The Thing About Reunions
by letty-fan24
Summary: Post 2 Fast 2 Furious. OC is Jessenia Ortiz, Letty's younger sister. Some Brian/OC, maybe more. M for language & more. Ex-agents Brian O'Connor and Jessenia Ortiz are assigned one last mission of bounty hunting. Along comes an unexpected reunion...
1. Something's Wrong

**WELCOME TO CHAPTER 1! IF YOU'VE READ THE OLD CHAPTER 1, PLEASE READ THIS ONE AS IT HAS A LOT OF NEW CONTENT! (LIKE 6 PAGES ON MICROSOFT WORD!) I WILL BE REVISING THE OLDER CHAPTERS BECAUSE THEY'RE SO CRAPPY I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE :P DON'T WORRY, I WON'T MAKE MAJOR CHANGES THAT MIGHT CONFUSE YOU BESIDES WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER. FROM HERE ON OUT, IT'S GENERALLY JUST STRUCTURE EDITING AND COMBINING CHAPTERS SO THAT THEY'RE LONGER. ENJOY! :)**

The night surrounded Jessenia, caressing her face. "You ready?" Brian asked. Tonight was a perfect night to burn some rubber on asphalt.

"Ready to watch your ass get kicked." She grinned.

"You wish," he pinned her down roughly on the hood of the car, teasing the anger inside her that was waiting to come out.

"Pin me down again and I'll slash your tires," she snapped.

"Back at you," he smiled that cocky smile, trying to grab the keys from her back pocket.

"Cocky son of a bitch," Jessenia pushed him away as he reached down.

Brian stared at her dark brown hair that flowed to her shoulders, framing her face in curls and the one bang hanging from the right side. Her skin was deceivingly pale, which made it a surprise for people to find out she was of Mexican blood. Her eyes were the same dark brown color as her hair, making her trademark stare all the more dangerous and threatening. Oddly, it made him think about Mia. The two were nothing alike, yet they both held special places in his heart.

Despite her bitterness towards him while he was dating Mia, Jess was without a doubt the most important person in his life. They had grown up together with Rome and they were most likely the reason she ended up being such a tomboy. But he wouldn't change her at all. She was one of the guys in his eyes…except for her small chest and lack of a penis.

Brian remembered in the past when he, Rome, and Jess were huge wrestling fans. They would play in the mud and pretend to be their favorite wrestlers and fight each other. But they always made Jess be the referee for the sake of her safety, and she reluctantly did so until she bent the rules to her liking, counting to 3 slowly or pretending not to notice when one of the boys was in a submission lock. Eventually they said they'd let her fight but that they would go easy on her so that they wouldn't get in trouble.

Elementary school and middle school was when things changed a bit for them. Rome and Brian started to like the girls at school, something that Jess did not share with them. In fact, she despised all the girls because all they wanted to do was play with their dolls. And the group of boys Brian and Rome hung out with disliked Jess because she always beat them up and instilled fear in them, forcing Brian and Rome to alienate her if they were to be part of the group. Jess was a loner from 8AM to 3PM until the school day was over and Rome and Brian walked home with her. After school and during the summer was when they would play, fight, and naturally, get themselves into trouble.

High school was a more uniting experience when Brian and Rome actually missed Jess, (though they'd never admit out loud) and began to hang out with her in public again. She told the dirtiest jokes they had ever heard any girl say, she was pretty good at video games, and she even tried out for the school's football team to hang with the boys. Even though the coach wouldn't let her join, she was still allowed to help him during the training and she went to every game to support her two idiot best friends. The girls at high school were vicious and more often than not, Jess found herself getting into fights. She had Brian and Rome's wrestling matches to thank for her record of being an undefeated fighter at school. Eventually, girls just stopped trying to pick on Jess, especially when they saw her walking the halls with two of the hottest football players by her sides.

Jess also was the most academically successful of the three. Her GPA throughout her high school career was a 3.8 and, of course, made a struggling Rome and Brian jealous. So at the request of both their parents, Jess had become their tutor. Hanging out with a girl for so many hours of the day would have been agonizing to any other pair of boys besides Rome and Brian. Jess helped them understand difficult subjects like Trigonometry, Chemistry, and Spanish a little better. Since the guys would never study or do homework on their own, Jess had to be by their side to make sure the three at least got _some_ work done before playing football outside or killing each other via video games.

But Jess wasn't just there to help them succeed in sports or school. She was also their only moral support. Both Rome and Brian had troubled family lives. Rome's parents had divorced when he was young and his mother had trouble with the law so often that he had to live with his ailing grandmother. Brian had seen his father so little that he didn't even remember him at all. His mother was an emotional wreck to the point of being bipolar, and many times he had to sleep over at Rome's just to get away from the stress. Jess also had family troubles; her parents had split up after her father admitted to cheating on her mother and he left her family for his other one. Thus, Jess's family was left with a torn mother and three bitter children: Jess and her two older brothers—Daniel and Sixto. Her family only grew more apart after that. Sixto moved out, Daniel got married and left shortly after, and Jess was alone with her mother who grew depressed as the weeks passed. She didn't want to cry in front of the boys for fear that she would seem weak, so she kept it all inside, instead helping Brian and Rome with their own problems.

She and Brian were at the funerals for Rome's grandmother when she died of cancer and his cousin's, who got killed in a drive-by shooting. They also helped him move in with his aunt after his grandmother's death and stayed with him in his old room overnight. She slept over at Rome's with Brian when Brian's mother was checked into a mental facility—the reasons for which neither of the three knew—and Brian was too afraid and broken to sleep in his now empty house. She sat with Rome and Brian at the bleachers in the football field at dark hours while one, or sometimes both, got over the pain of breaking up with a girl or seeing her with someone else. She helped them study until they were at the point of passing out for final exams that were crucial for their chance to graduate with diplomas.

The three vowed to be inseparable. But when Jess and Brian entered the police force and Rome did not, things changed. While Jess was at the police academy with Brian, she also interned at a law firm, leaving Brian and Rome to dwell awkwardly on their own. At one point after graduating from the police academy, Rome lost touch with Jess and Brian. They were put in the same local city division, but while Brian was doing field work, Jess was helping out in the legal department. She promptly switched to field work, starting with patrols, because she realized that action was what she really wanted. Brian was on assignment and Jess was in K-9 training, however, when the event of Rome's bust happened.

Both were on the scene, at an old and presumed to be abandoned warehouse, when they were called on the action. But the difference was that Brian was one of the arresting officers when Rome and some friends of his had been caught in the bust. Jess was outside the warehouse with a trained attack dog, waiting to set him loose if need be. Rome saw Brian enter the place and begin making arrests with other officers. But he never saw or knew Jess was outside. So years later, in Miami, when the three were united once again in the derby, only Brian suffered Rome's fury.

In between Rome's bust and their reunion in Miami was also the case with Dominic Toretto. This was Jess and Brian's first official case and they were assigned together on it. However, it wasn't their first time working together in the police force.

Months following Rome's bust, Jess and her partner, Kristy, had been patrolling their usual place as always when they got called in for a possible hostage situation in a casino. Arriving at the scene, she saw several police cars parked nearby and their corresponding officers taking cover and aiming at the front door where the hostages were being held. Jess and her partner followed suit when Brian and his partner, Jeff pulled up beside them and did the same. They could hear a commanding officer yell from the outside as he tried to negotiate with the men on the inside who were responsible for the hold-up.

Jess looked around, surveying the scene. The casino itself looked fairly large, and it was connected to a much larger hotel. She kept that in mind as she asked a patrol officer nearby of what was going on.

"We've got 5 armed men holding the people hostage. They're demanding $100,000 per hostage release, but I've got no doubt they've already started emptying the cash exchange booths in addition. They've locked every possible entry in the casino, including the connecting tunnel that links it to the hotel," a male officer told her.

"What about the roof?" She asked.

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know…"

Jess walked quickly from her cover towards the nearest officer who was above her rank.

"Sir! Officer Ortiz." She introduced herself formally. The older sergeant nodded to her.

"What do you need, Officer?" He asked.

"Has anyone checked if the roof levels have been locked up as well?" She asked him.

"No intel on that at the moment. Why do you ask?"

"Sir, permission to enter the casino via the hotel—" she began but the higher ranking official shook his head at her.

"Negative, all routes have been blocked." He interrupted.

"The _roof_, sir." Jess clarified.

"No. Too much of a risk if they notice a break-in. They'll kill a civilian and then we'll lose our negotiation grounds." He turned back to the casino and focused his attention there instead. Brian, Kristy, and Jeff saw the conversation, wincing at the rejection Jess received and praying for her sake that she didn't do something stupid. Brian knew more than anyone that when things didn't go her way, everything got worse.

"Sir, with all due respect, if we just stand here yelling back and forth, we're not making much progress anyway and we still risk the civilians and the escape of the suspects once they get what they came here for!" Jess lowered her voice at the end after noticing that she had raised her voice at a superior officer.

"NO, Officer! That's final! End of discussion! Now get back to your position!" He said loudly.

"Yes sir," she responded submissively and went back to Kristy, who had an apologetic look on her face.

"Nice try," she encouraged meekly.

"Thanks," Jess replied blandly. She was still very much upset. Despite being denied, Jess still had an itching urge to follow through with her suggestion. She didn't know why the sergeant couldn't see her way. They were sitting ducks. Over 20 police officers just standing outside a casino with their guns pointed at a door. Yelling at the men who, with every passing minute, were stealing more money. God, the system was so flawed sometimes.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. The anger inside her took control. She made up her mind, and no one was going to stop her…hopefully. Jess inched herself backwards, slowly at first, trying to ignore the odd looks she received from Brian, Kristy, and Jeff. Then she sprinted into an alley across the street when she heard the three officers call her name in a whisper to not alert any of the others nearby. Jess ran down 3 alleys and into another street, the one in front of the hotel. She heard many footsteps approaching her quickly.

"Jess!" Voices behind her called loudly. This grabbed more and more attention as they kept yelling. Jess turned around to see who was after her.

"Shit!" She muttered to herself.

"Jess! What the hell are you doing?" Kristy yelled as she ran with Jeff and Brian, who led the pack in their chase. He just a few yards away from Jess, with and Jeff and Kristy a few more yards behind him. Jess figured she had maybe 5 seconds or so to think of a plan and follow through.

Running into the hotel would cause a ruckus and might get the hotel security to fire at her, but it would help to lose her pursuers among the crowd if she didn't attract attention by running. If she ran around the hotel, she would probably find herself trapped in an alley and would have to scale the outer hotel wall to get to the casino roof. With any luck, Jess could find roof access in the hotel more easily and quickly. So she ran down the street and into the hotel, breaking her sprint into a fast walk as she weaved through the crowd of people in the huge lobby. She finally reached the elevators and pushed the up button. Her heartbeat was racing from all the running and the anxiety so she crossed her arms over her chest, hoping it would keep her heart from bursting out of it. She stepped back and nervously kept an eye on the front doors to see if her pursuers were nearby. Much to her dismay, she saw Brian burst through the glass door, dodging people left and right as he desperately searched for Jess. Their eyes met when he spotted her in the back left corner of the giant lobby, waiting for the elevator to arrive.

"Jess!" He yelled and raced towards her, ignoring the odd looks people gave him.

Jess's eyes widened, her heartbeat speeding up once more. She let out a sigh of relief when the elevator _ding_-ed and the doors slid open. She quickly stepped inside the empty elevator and pushed the button to the top floor when Brian had barely reached the elevators. She heard him curse as the doors closed and she ascended to the 23rd floor of the hotel. Perky piano riffs softly sounded from the elevator speakers, grabbing her attention for a moment. Then the doors opened up to long, cream-colored hallways and Hollywood-style red carpets.

"Okay, come on." She whispered to herself as she turned to the left hallway and aimlessly searched for a route to the roof. In a few seconds, a minute at most, Brian would burst through the elevator doors and then her plan would go to shit. She ran down hallway after hallway, not exactly sure of what she was looking for.

"_Goddamnit_, Jess!" Brian yelled once the elevator slid open and freed him from a prison of anxiety and urgency. He followed her based on which hallway echoed her pounding footsteps as they slapped the red carpet. She turned another corner and found a door with 'EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY' printed in big red bold letters. Her eyes widened like a child's in a candy shop. "Yes!" She sighed in relief. Unfortunately for her, this led Brian directly to her location. He called out her name again.

Jess kicked the door open out of the adrenaline rush. It spiked higher into her system when she heard clamored calls emitting from Kristy and Jeff. She mentally cursed the world, people, hotels, elevators, criminals, and everything else that played a part in her current situation. She stepped out onto the roof to see a dangerous 6-foot gap between the casino and hotel roofs. Brian had already turned the corner and would be at an arm's distance of Jess very soon if she didn't do something now. She took a few steps back and just as she was in Brian's grasp, she leaped over the gap that stood between the hotel and casino.

"That's not going to make me go away!" Brian called out as he followed her actions. Jess landed on one knee and gave herself a moment to recover before getting up and running from Brian again. She technically had nowhere to go, but she had been cooking up a plan while waiting in the elevator. As she surveyed the roof, Brian gripped her arm firmly.

"Jess, what the _hell_ are you _doing_?" He chastised. Their eyes met for a few seconds until they heard Jeff and Kristy calling out to them from the hotel's roof. They turned around to see the two officers yelling and scolding simultaneously as they waved their arms frantically.

"_Not_standing on the sidelines, _that's_what I'm doing." Jess jerked her arm away and glared at Brian, challenging him to piss her off.

"Are you insane? We'll get fired! You disobeyed a direct order!"

"And _you_ weren't obligated to follow me," Jess said with a hint of bitterness as she walked around the roof to look for an entrance point. Miraculously, that shut Brian up for a few minutes as she finally found a good sized window on the right side of the casino.

Brian chewed on the inside of his cheek as he watched Jess go to work. He turned back to Jeff and Kristy, who stood quietly on the hotel roof, unsure of what to do with their crazed partners.

"So what's your plan, then?" He turned back to Jess, who was on her stomach and cautiously leaning over the roof to examine the window a few feet below.

"And why would you care, O'Connor?" She said over the roof. Brian walked over to her and crossed his arms. She turned around to see him standing over her.

"I can't let you have _all_ the fun." He grinned mischievously at her. Just like old times. She returned the smirk and spoke.

"B&E through this window," she pointed to the windowsill below her. "We'll pick them off one by one until we get to ground level, then invite the boys outside to join the party." She explained. Brian nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good." Brian called Jeff on his radio and told him their plan and that they would give out a signal when all officers should move into the casino. He held Jess's legs down to the roof so she wouldn't fall over as she broke the window of the second floor in the casino. Both easily dropped in and pulled out their standard issue pistols. Silencers would have made this plan run much more smoothly for the two officers, but as it was, they were going to have to make do with what they had and just hope for the best.

Jess and Brian split up on the second floor, agreeing to meet up back at their point of entry after their sweep. Time was of the essence, so both ran as silently as they could and stayed away from the staircases, which could lead to exposure. They stuck to the shadows and sprinted beside darker walls as they scanned the floor. In minutes, they reunited sweaty and tired, but fortunately unharmed and having encountered no hostiles.

Together, they ran down the empty escalator in the back, away from the main attraction games and closer to the gift shops, where they hoped would be no resistance. They took cover behind the counter of a magazine shop when they heard an armed guard pass by. Using hand signals, Brian volunteered to take him out and Jess would provide cover. Creeping slowly behind the guard until both were alone in a hallway, Brian covered the guard's mouth as he struck his clavicle with the butt of his pistol. The man dropped to the ground unconscious. Brian was reassured to see Jess right behind him with her pistol ready to fire if any of the two was in danger. He nodded to her in thanks and they circled around to the rear of the staircases, where 4 men with rifles roamed around. Several people, too many to count or estimate, cowering on the ground. They whimpered in fear, hopeless and wondering if they would live to see another day.

Brian tapped Jess's shoulder, interrupting her thought process as she observed the men and their movements. He pointed to a few slot machines at the right side of the casino, then at her. He pointed to himself and then to a craps table on the left side of the casino. She nodded and moved quietly to where he asked. After seeing that she was in position, he ran to his designated area. Thankfully, the carpet muffled their movement, so no one had noticed them.

Brian looked to his right to see Jess crouched with her pistol at the ready. He held up one finger to his mouth and peeked from his cover to point at the two men closest to them. Kneeling down back to safety, he looked at Jess as she nodded in agreement to take them out. He held up three fingers with one hand and his gun with the other, signaling that they would take them out simultaneously at the count of three. As his fingers dropped one by one, Jess smirked evilly when only one finger remained standing.

In a flash, the two officers fired one shot each at their targets, incapacitating them instantly. As the last two whipped around, Jess rolled out of cover to get closer. Brian provided back-up support as one of the men aimed at her. Two shots to the chest took out the threat and Jess took cover behind a row of slot machines. Brian called on his radio for backup from Jeff and the rest of the officers who were still standing outside. Jeff informed him that they were moving in on the casino via the main entrance. Jess whipped around with her gun trained at the last man.

But the last man was a bit smarter, and had grabbed a nearby civilian. He was using the middle-aged man as a bodyguard. He pointed his pistol at the man's head, threatening to kill him if either Jess or Brian made any sudden movement.

"Put down your weapon!" Brian commanded. The suspect made no movement to do so.

"Come on, man. It's over. Give up while you still can," Jess said loudly, her impatience growing. In the midst of this, Brian saw figures of police officers approaching the glass doors of the casino. _Shit,_ he thought. If the suspect saw them, he'd surely kill the civilian. And then Jess and Brian would be in a heap of trouble. As the doors were busted open, several officers burst inside, grabbing the criminal's attention. He turned around, his back towards Jess and Brian. Jess took a shot at his arm while Brian fired at his leg, both careful not to hit the civilian. The armed man and his 'bodyguard' collapsed to the ground and the two officers rushed over to them. The civilian crawled away from his attacker and Jess helped him up while Brian handcuffed the injured criminal. The rest of the policemen and policewomen helped calm the other hostages and handled the downed suspects.

After all the hostages had been interviewed and released, the stolen money accounted for and returned, and the suspects medically treated and sat handcuffed in the back of 3 patrol cars, a higher ranking member of the police force approached a nervous Brian and Jess, who were accompanied by their equally nervous partners.

"I understand you four were at the head of this plan," he crossed his arms over his chest. His golden badge glistened in the bright and hazy casino lighting. The combination of the man's insignia patch and the name patch on his uniform that read 'Lt M. Parker' was clearly there not just to be informative, but also intimidating.

The four officers before him were terrified. They were all still quite new to the force and would hate to be fired on the spot right now. Not only would it be embarrassing, it would be a personal letdown after having graduated from the police academy. Jess's heartbeat was still racing from the adrenaline, and she couldn't just stand there with her head down like the others. She explained to the lieutenant what happened.

The whole operation was Jess's idea, and she intended for herself to be the only one involved so only she could take the blame if it went wrong. But things got complicated when Brian, Kristy, and Jeff were chasing after her. She tried to evade them and hoped they would just give up and return to their positions.

_That_, what her first mistake, officer. Partners _never_ abandon each other. They are a team and take equal blame; he eyed Kristy, who lowered her head in shame. And members of the force should always refer to one another by _rank_, not by name, unless you are of higher rank than the person you are addressing. She would do well to remember both rules from now on. He nodded for Jess to continue.

Sir, it was all her idea. She was just desperate. She needed to take action; the force wasn't making any progress! At least, that's what it looked like…Jess lowered her head nervously. Anyway, her point is that O'Connor…sorry…_Officer_O'Connor and his partner should not be at fault, same with her own partner.

Lieutenant Parker observed Jess's movements as she fidgeted nervously under his scrutiny.

"How exactly did you think this would play out?" He inquired, causing her to look back up at his steel blue eyes as she answered.

"Well," she began. "I thought since the roof seemed to be the only thing _not_ under lock and key by the suspects, it seemed like a discreet and unexpected entry point."

Silence befell the group as the higher ranked man stood in thought. Brian kept his eyes on his black Converse. _Crap!_ He thought. He had forgotten to wear his uniform shoes! If Lieutenant Parker noticed, or any other officer of higher rank, they'd have his head on a plate.

"And you," the officer turned to Brian, who looked up at him stiffly. "You could have stayed at the hotel with Officers Mendez and Jenkins," he gestured to Jeff and Kristy respectively. "It certainly would have gotten you in less trouble if you left Officer Ortiz go on her own. So why did you follow?"

Now all eyes were on Brian. Why _did_he do it? Jess and the Lieutenant weren't the only ones who wanted to know.

Was it because he had just as much drive to catch the bad guys? Was it because he wanted a part of the action? Did he want to take credit in subduing the suspects? Did he hope to gain a gold medal after all this? He knew the answer to none of these questions. He did know one thing: the pressure of being put on the spot by Lieutenant Parker was freaking Brian out. It was enough to make him shuffle his feet around from the awkwardness of it all.

"…I don't know, sir." He responded quietly. Lieutenant Parker grunted at his empty response and stepped back to face the four officers.

"Dismissed."

They nodded and scurried back to their cars. Jess walked ahead nervously, knowing that Kristy was glaring daggers at her from behind for getting her in trouble. Jeff walked slowly behind them, still in shock of everything that occurred since the moment Jess had first run off. Contrary his position in the group minutes ago when he had been chasing Jess, Brian was now at the back of the pack, lagging further behind still. He was lost in thought after the altercation with the Lieutenant.

When he lifted his head up to see how far behind he was, he saw said Lieutenant talking with other officers about details pertaining to the case. He walked over to him.

"Sir?" Brian stood back a few feet and put his hands in his pockets, a habit he had whenever he was shy or nervous, such as now.

"Yes, Officer?"

"I followed Officer Ortiz because I stuck to the oath of an officer: never leave your partner behind." The Lieutenant raised his eyebrow at Brian.

"If I understand correctly, Ortiz is not your partner; Mendez is."

"Officer Ortiz might not be my partner in the force," he said. "But I consider her one anyways." And with that, he walked back to Jeff, who sat in their patrol car.

He got in the driver's seat and looked to his left to see Jess in the driver's seat of her patrol car. Kristy looked like she was screaming her head off at Jess, who just sighed and sat with her head back, as if to ward off a headache. It definitely looked like Kristy's chastisement could be enough to cause a migraine from what he could see. Brian put the key in the ignition and put the car in reverse.

"You want to tell me what the hell happened down there? Cause I still can't process all this shit." Jeff leaned his head against the window.

"Nah, man." Brian simply said, and dropped Jeff off at his apartment.

Later that night, Brian drove back to the police station to turn in the patrol car. He saw Jess had arrived before him and was already on her way inside. He entered the building and saw her go to the women's lockers. He went to his locker, got his black backpack and his things, and walked back to the parking lot. Like always, Jess waited outside the station, leaning against a pole and listening to her iPod with one earbud in her ear and the other dangling down her chest. She said it was so she could hear if someone was sneaking up on her. Brian knew she was just making excuses not to buy another pair because she always broke them when sleeping with her iPod.

She looked over her shoulder when she heard the sound of footsteps grow closer. Brian walked over to her with his backpack slung on one shoulder. She looked him up and down briefly when her eyes stopped at his feet.

"_Someone's_ out of uniform," she grinned, raising her eyebrows at his Converse. She began walking across the street, Brian by her side.

"Shut up," he bumped her shoulder, knocking her off course and into the empty street. She played it off coolly until she walked safely back onto the sidewalk. She punched his stomach and chuckled when Brian groaned in pain. It was getting darker out. They kept walking.

The rest of the time was spent chatting about the day's events, excluding the hostage situation as they had both experienced and it was an awkward conversation to have, especially after Brian had been put on the spotlight. Finally they reached the apartment building that they lived in. They endured the tiring two flights of stairs until they arrived at the end of the hall. Their apartments were across from each other, in case one over needed the other. Jess grabbed her key and unlocked her door.

"So, um…" Brian began; Jess turned around.

"Night," he said simply. She nodded.

"See ya tomorrow."

And they entered their homes, falling into a deep sleep and awaiting the next day.

Back at the station, Sergeant James Monty, the head of Brian and Jess's local city division, sat in his office, going through the pile of paper, files, and other bulk that needed organizing. In the midst of his 'spring cleaning' routine, his phone buzzed, alerting him of a new email. He sat at his metal desk, checking the full email on his computer. He read the previewed information, noticing the sending address: 'Lt. M. Parker, South Division'. The Sergeant grudgingly opened the email, expecting the content to be a complaint that the South Division had in regards to the North Division. The email read:

LAPD

Lt M Parker, South Division

Los Angeles, CA

To Sergeant James Monty:

Today at approximately 2100 hours at the Celeste Casino on the corner of Amazon Street and Rio Avenue, a hostage situation was called in. On scene were officers from both my division and yours, including Officer O'Connor, Officer Mendez, Officer Jenkins, and Officer Ortiz. This message mainly concerns O'Connor and Ortiz. I'll keep this brief, but you are welcome to contact me if you need further details on the following matter. Officer Ortiz, in attempt to gain advancement in the hostage situation, took things into her own hands—in violation of a direct order from one of my sergeants—by entering the locked up casino via the second floor window. In the process, her sudden actions alerted her partner, as well and O'Connor and his partner, thus involving them in a wild goose chase to stop Ortiz's erratic behavior. The chase led the four officers to the roof of the Stream Hotel, adjacent to the Celeste Casino. Ortiz jumped to the casino roof to evade the three officers. However, it was Officer O'Connor who mimicked her actions and jumped as well. Both made a discreet entrance into the casino and eliminated all 5 armed suspects while causing no casualties. The money the suspects planned to steal was all accounted for, and it was directly due to the actions of Officers O'Connor and Ortiz that these outcomes came to be. Despite the fact that O'Connor was not by law required to provide assistance to Ortiz, the two officers seemed to work well as a pair better than with their respective assigned partners. Furthermore, I believe that O'Conner and Ortiz would serve well in a higher sector, and as official partners, under the South Division. I understand that they are young and still have much to learn, but their motivation and capabilities show promise and growth. Their skills and collaboration will be put to much better use here as there are several priority cases that require their attention. I ask that you transfer them to the South Division of the LAPD as soon as possible and to contact me when you do. If you have any questions or concerns with this matter, please contact me.

Lieutenant Mark Parker, South Division LAPD

And in a few days, Brian and Jess had been transferred to the South Division, where they had officially become partners and worked together day in and day out. In a few weeks, they had been assigned to their first major case: the angry truckers and the concerns over Dominic Toretto.

This case was stressful for both Brian and Jess, and caused them to drift apart from some time. It was hard for Brian to lie to Mia's face and focus on the case, as he was starting to care about the girl. Jess nagged him about it, warning him that they still had a job to do. She naturally didn't trust women, especially those who hung around with Brian or Rome, like back in high school. On the inside, Jess even admitted it to herself that she was a jealous bitch. During high school, there were times when Jess developed a crush on Brian. It would come and go as she saw him hang out with female undesirables, so she just kept it inside and waited for her hormones to subside. On the other hand, Jess was naturally also a mean-spirited person; she was always looking for an excuse to get angry and punch someone. Most of all Brian.

Jess was also under pressure when she found out that Toretto's girlfriend was none other than Leticia Ortiz. It was then that she discovered that Letty was her relative. When Jess's father left her family, Letty's mother was the 'other woman'. Thus, Letty was his child as well, making Jess and Letty sisters. At first, the two didn't hit it off so well, both being as stubborn and bitter as their father. But their love for cars, tomboyish behavior, and passion for all forms of rock became their common ground. The two became best friends quickly, making progression in the case even harder for Jess. She hated being her only sister's boyfriend's ticket to jail.

In the aftermath of the Toretto case, Jess and Brian decided to quit the force. They took a road trip of sorts and toured the country as they evaded local police. Their faces managed to be on nearly every newspaper and news channel, much to their dismay. They spent months in hiding until they wound up in Miami, Florida. All seemed to go well until one night at the street racing region when Brian and Jess were arrested by the Miami PD while they tried to flee the scene. At the station, they were briefed on Verone Carter, a known drug smuggler who had managed to escape the police's grasp several times before. With the inclusion of Roman Pearce, the operation had initiated.

After the three had successfully worked together to assist in the arrest of Verone Carter, they made amends. While Rome chose to work in the shop for Tej and live across the street, Jess and Brian, now ex-cops, decided to share a small apartment in Glenn Boulevard and own a hide-away yacht at seaside Miami.

And here they were now, getting ready to let loose and relax in the dark night.

"Dumbass," Brian heard Jess mutter to him. He was spacing out again. They both entered her glossy obsidian Nissan 350z and drove to the one place they felt free: the streets. Brian and Jessenia hopped off and decided to chat before the race…they had time.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Jessenia muttered behind her hair as she popped the hood.

"You always do, Jess" Brian sighed, escaping the crowd moving towards him. Being famous in Miami had its pros and its cons.

"Got a problem with that?" she asked sternly, her eyes threatening to hurt him. She fumbled with the engine.

"Relax," he rolled his eyes as he closed the hood. "Just _try_ to have fun." He didn't understand why she was so on edge tonight. She never was this nervous. It was making him nervous, and he felt paranoid just thinking so much about it all.

"So who is it this time?" Jess changed subjects, inquiring about the night's first line-up of automobile racers. It seemed that the motorcycle races had already ended.

"Does it matter?" He retaliated the question; he'd played that game with her before. It was all about small talk and bluffs.

"L-let me just double check under the hood," Jess stuttered as she put her hands on the hood of the car again. She had a gut feeling that something was wrong, but Brian just focused on the race. _It's nothing,_he assured himself. She was nervous over nothing.

"Jess!" He yelled impatiently and stopped her from touching anything inside. Brian grabbed her elbows and lightly stepped on her feet, completely immobilizing her.

"Shit, what's wrong with you?" He looked her in the eyes. She only glared at him.

"I don't know, I just…" she sighed in exasperation, hating that she couldn't get the right words out.

"Dammit Jess just stand on the sidelines." He stressed, getting off her feet and letting her go. She rolled her eyes at him and complied.

"Fine. But I'm telling you, O'Connor: something's wrong and you'll be sorry when it comes," Jess said lastly as Brian gave her a pissed glare.

"Thanks for the tip, Zoltar. What are you going to do next? Read me tarot cards?" He said, feeling some anger in his chest build up. Jess chose to ignore his snide remark.

"All right speed demons, it's Double Night!" The race host yelled. People in the crowd cheered as the racers pulled up their cars along the starting line. Jess leaned against a street lamp with her arms crossed, isolating herself from the regular crowd of slutty chicks, cocky dudes, crackpots, and ghetto-wannabes.

"For a total of 10 grand, you will run two laps around the pier. Two members per crew. Those of you who like the two-wheelers: only one bike per pair. No exceptions, aiight?" The race host clarified. Jess smirked. Now she was going to get in on the action.


	2. Contracts

The race began in a flash, the red bandanna gracefully dropping to the ground and releasing the racers from their invisible prisons. Instantly, Brian and Jess slammed their feet on the gas pedals, Brian quickly fighting to take the lead while Jess followed shortly on his heels, waiting for an opportunity to slow someone down. It seemed like only seconds passed when they were nearly completing the first lap. In between the cross from the first lap to entering the last lap, the telltale cry of police sirens alerted everyone on the streets. With just a half lap to go, people didn't know whether to finish the race or just leave.

Some of the racers who were already behind decided to call it quits and sped off in different directions, desperately wanting to evade the cops. Brian held the leading position with just a few seconds, while Jess and his opponent trailed behind close by. They quickly crossed the finish line as the crowd began to frantically disperse. Brian collected the prize money while Jess returned her bike. The blonde ex-cop entered their car and pulled up near Jess, urging her to hurry up when red and blue lights flashed in his rear view mirror. Jess paused in her steps as she saw what her partner saw.

_Fuck,_Brian thought. He looked at Jess as she looked at him with eyes of a criminal. _What is she thinking?_He thought. That's what he liked and disliked about Jess all at once: she was always unpredictable. You would never really know what she was thinking, and she never ceased to surprise him.

"Hands Up!" The policemen shouted, drawing their black pistols.

"_Heads_ Up!" Jess yelled as she saw that a grenade was thrown at them. As white smoke aroused, everyone ran except for Brian, who was still in his car. He shifted gears to reverse and honked, alerting Jess that now was the time to escape. _Perfect,_she thought as she managed to maneuver through the smoke to snag a couple of guns from the police. She hopped in Brian's car as he drove it in full speed to their secret garage hideout on the other side of the city.

It was an old ragged cot they bought from Tej, an old friend. Next to it was a small garage with a couple of cars Brian and Jess had built together in their spare time since they had quit being in the police force. While Brian locked up the car in the garage, Jess opened the front door to the yacht with unsteady hands. She knew something was going to happen from the very beginning, but she didn't know what or why. The events that just occurred were even more confusing. Who threw the smoke grenade? It didn't seem to the the police, and the crowd was fleeing the scene as fast as their wheels could take them, so who could it be?

After locking up the car, Brian sat on the rather small bed they had to share. It always annoyed Jess because as much as she enjoyed hanging out with her best friend, he could be an asshole. Brian didn't mind much since they kept their distances often. He switched the TV on to the news channel and kicked off his old black-and-white Converse shoes.

"Brian?" he heard from the bathroom.

"What?" he responded, paying more attention to the news reports on the TV, hoping there wouldn't be a news story about him and Jess.

"We kind of forgot something," Jess came out of the bathroom, lightly kicking a dog toy towards him. He looked at her with a confused face. Suddenly it froze when his eyes saw the toy.

"Oh, shit. Luna!" he said. Luna was Jess's one year old Australian Shepherd which they brought everywhere.

"It's ok. We were gone for about an hour and a half. She'll be fine, you fed her before we left, right?" she asked. He tilted his head backward in disappointment in himself.

"You _didn't_feed her?" she nagged and glared at him.

"I thought it was _your_ turn to feed her," he protested.

Jess sighed and tied her hair in a ponytail and said, "OK, OK, I'll go get her."

Brian immediately blocked her from getting outside and said, "No fucking way, Jess. The cops will be looking for us all over the city right now. We can't risk it." She sighed again, knowing this was going to be a while.

"Fine, I'll just walk, then." She looked at him with begging eyes.

He sighed and warned her, "Ok fine, but if you're not back in 25 minutes, you're in trouble." She forced herself to smile at him and lightly pushed him out of the way.

"25 minutes, Jess!" he reminded.

"You're such a killjoy, dammit!" she laughed and went on her way.

"Real funny," he replied loudly, chuckling a little himself. He went back inside and fixed himself up some soup-in-a-cup. _She'll probably be hungry too,_he thought and quickly made her a chicken sandwich. Once again, he plopped down on his side of the bed, turned on the TV, and switched it to the news channel. A few minutes passed and he looked at the black digital clock on his tan nightstand.

_Damn, how long will we have to stay in this time?_ He asked himself. This was probably the third time this week they had to hide in the yacht. After a few minutes, Brian decided the news today was going to be boring so he switched it to a football game.

"_Now_we're talking!" he said excitedly, slurping some noodles from his soup.

"No, no, _no_! Left, left! There you go! Sneak around them! Hurry he's getting away, Jones! _Yes_! _Yes_! _Yes_!" he clapped and yelled, almost spilling his soup.

"_Damn!_Could you get any louder?" he heard Jess say as she opened the door and entered with Luna on a leash behind her.

"Home team's winning," he pointed out to Jess in a lower, ashamed tone of voice and slurped his soup.

"That's great." She replied with no sign of interest. He expected that kind of response from her because football wasn't her thing, FBI shows and baseball games were more in her range of favorites.

"Hey, how long do you think we'll have to hide from the cops?" he asked her as she unclipped Luna's leash. Jess shrugged and grabbed the sandwich on the counter.

Luna jumped on the bed next to Brian, licking his hand and looking at him with puppy eyes.

"Hell no, you're a big suck-up. Go to Jess," he slightly pushed her towards Jess, who was now lying down on her side of the bed.

"_Mean,_Brian" Jess said as Luna snuggled towards her.

"It's not a lie," he chuckled, slurping the remains of his soup. Jess parted her sandwich in half, sharing one half with Luna and keeping the other for herself.

"Seriously though, how long do you think we have to hide from the cops this time?" Brian engaged her in a conversation.

"I have no fucking idea, Brian. Shit!" she replied while trying to pick up Luna's sandwich half which fell on the floor. "Let's give it a couple days….a week at the most." She finally answered him. Brian sighed and turned off the TV.

"I'll shower first," Jess told him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you take a lot longer than I do and I don't leave it smelling like shit." She humorously told him and walked over to a closet, grabbing clothes.

"Whatever." He replied and threw away his soup-in-a-cup and put the fork in a small sink. About ten minutes later, he heard the water shut off. He chuckled to himself as he saw the door opened a little and a mirror on the wall inside the room. Brian saw Jess's reflection and it looked like she didn't have much on. He started to move around to get a better look but suddenly the door was slammed shut in his face.

"Ow," he winced, rubbing his nose.

"You disgusting little perv!" Jess laughed at his reaction. She exited the bathroom wearing light blue ripped jeans and a black T-shirt.

"Your turn, Perv." she laughed. Brian scoffed and grabbed some clothes from the closet and went inside the bathroom.

"Come on, Pretty. Time to go to sleep." She said to Luna, pulling a cover up to Jess's shoulders while Luna snuggled next to her. About half an hour later, Brian got out of the shower dressed in dark jeans since he sleeps shirtless to try to annoy Jess. He plopped onto his side of the bed, making a small wave to annoy her. Luna growled and jumped off the bed while Brian chuckled to himself and turned off the lights.

A cold breeze came over Jess as she sat up. She rubbed her eyes and opened them, in complete shock at what she saw. Looks like they were heavy sleepers, because they weren't in the cot anymore, but in a jail cell.

"Damn," she whispered, looking around. At that moment, Brian got up and looked around. He froze, and took a double-take. Yep, they were in a jail cell.

"Morning, agents," they heard a voice from the other side. In front of the cell was a dark skinned man, with a little more weight than he should have. He was wearing black pants, black shoes, and a white collared shirt with a gold and shiny badge on the pocket.

"Don't worry, Luna's fine. She's in the training center." He assured Jess.

"She's dog aggressive," Brian and Jess replied.

"We know," he said. "She tried to bit one our senior attack dogs already." He chuckled.

He held a clipboard in his right arm, clasping a keychain in his left hand. "You two are incredibly heavy sleepers, you know." He said as he unlocked their cell while Brian got up quickly and Jess still had trouble wondering how they got there.

"Let me guess, you take Tylenol before bed right?" he joked to Brian. Brian switched his face from confused to stern and exited the cell, followed by Jess. They waited to be handcuffed by the man and were led into a confession room where another man wearing glasses and a formal suit was waiting with two files. They were sat on two chairs and stared at the man.

"Do you two delinquents even _know_ why you're in jail today?" he asked them. They shook their heads. He sighed and handed each of them a red file folder. "These are your crimes committed since the last time your records were cleaned out, which was approximately 3 years ago. As you can see, it's obvious you two haven't learned the meaning of the word 'law'."

Jess smiled at one particular crime, public disturbance, which was when Brian dared her to throw pies at passing people at a park while wearing a bunny costume, and saying, "Boycott against Playboy and their bunny abuse! Save the bunnies!" He waited for them to finish looking at their folders and continued.

"This has been the fourth time your records have been cleared. Now, it's not that we don't appreciate the work you've done in order to establish justice, but this will be the final time you can sign up to clear your names."

"Why?" Jess asked.

"The Miami PD thinks that if you're constantly clearing your name without being punished for your crimes, you won't learn to stop." Brian sighed as he looked at the long list of crimes in front of him.

"However, a proposition has been propsed, given your co-operation and successful runs on cases with Bilkins in the past. I'm against it right now, seeing as you two aren't exactly professionals. But we're having a lot of problems with people smuggling drugs from Cuba. But if you are willing to keep your mouths shut about this, I will personally clear your records the next time you're in jail, and keep them clean for a month, plus you will receive 20% of the money value for the drugs you confiscate here in Miami." Brian sat back in his chair, and thought carefully.

"Serious?" Jess asked. The cop nodded. Silence filled the room as Brian thought. 20% was a lot when dealing with cartels. It could be a life-changer.

"Deal," Brian said.

"Well thanks for making this a team decision," Jess said sarcastically as they were led out of the confession room.

"Are you saying you would have said 'no'?" He asked, annoyed with her snarky remark.

"Of course not. I'm just saying you might want to let me have a share in making the choices, Brian." She replied, upset. As they rounded a corner, they reached their cell. Even though Brian's guard removed his handcuffs faster than Jess's, she deliberately pushed him aside and entered the cell first after her handcuffs were removed. Brian scoffed and entered after her; they heard the sound of a key locking them in, for the time being.

Brian sat down on one of the two twin beds that were placed on opposite sides of the cell. _What did I get us into?_ He pondered. They didn't really know how dangerous the drug smugglers were, assuming they weren't going to be easier to catch than Verone Carter, the last drug smuggler he had helped send to jail.

Jess leaned forward slightly, placing her hands on the square lock that kept them inside and bowed her head, assessing what just happened.

"You think this was a good idea? Us tracking down more criminals?" he asked, lying down and placing his wrist behind his neck for support.

"I don't know. But when you think about the salary..." Jess began. Silence fell upon them, despite the several conversations echoing around their cell.

"Do we even know what we're up against?" he asked. Jess sighed and walked over to the bed across from Brian's. At that moment, they could hear little feet, like small claws, walking in the linoleum hallway that led to their cells. Jess raised an eyebrow to Brian and he simply shrugged and sat up, both of their eyes searching for something to cross their cell. A security guard walked up to them with Luna on a leash. She seemed to be very eager to get out of the obedience hellhole she had just survived.

"Had fun?" Jess asked the guard, assuming he was associated with Luna's training.

"Oh, Lots. Nothin' like seeing an Australian Shepherd want to murder a fully trained, ravenous German shepherd. This dog is fucking _aggressive_," the guard told her.

"She gets it from me; it's in the genes," she smiled, wanting to creep out the guard as Luna sprinted inside with her leash still on.

He gave her an odd look and said, "...Right."

"Does she get her speed from you too?" Brian teased her of her physical weakness: running.

"Sleep with one eye open tonight," she retorted when they both laid down. After a few minutes of silence, Brian got the last words in by saying, "Love you!"

The next morning, Jess awoke to a rough, wet tongue against her upper lip, nose, and cheek. "Luna," she said in response. Luna licked her furiously as if to warn Jess of something.

"Alright, I'm getting up, damn." She stretched in the flat bed under the paper-thin sheets before sitting up. Brian was still sound asleep. _Figures_, she thought. After a night like that, he definitely needed some rest from thinking so much. By the looks of the artificial light created by lamps and light bulbs mixing in with natural daylight, which shone through several windows down the halls, she guessed it was about 8-10 AM. They would have to get up now if they still wanted to get whatever was left for breakfast. Jess got up and pushed a button on the stone-colored wall. Within a few minutes, a security guard came by and unlocked the cell.

_Damn_, she thought. This was definitely a white-collar jail. It even had buttons to summon guards. She half-expected caviar to be served at the cafeteria, though she doubted that taxpayers would be willing to shell out that much cash on a jail. Jess picked up Luna, who had taken her spot on the bed, and placed her right on Brian's bare back. _I don't remember him taking his shirt off before bed,_ she thought. _He probably did it later on._

She knew that he liked to sleep with his shirt off during hot weather, usually to tease her, but he also did it whenever he was stressed out. Luna, startled, hopped off Brian's back with a forceful jump, landing beside him on the bed. He felt her rough nails scrape his golden muscled skin and, for a split second, Jess stared.

"Bitch…" he said in a muffled voice, his face was hidden by a pillow. This brought Jess back to reality.

"Breakfast, darling," she said sarcastically. She went over to her bed and put on her shoes, at which time Luna decided to jump off Brian's bed. Brian was slowly getting up and putting on his black T-shirt when Jess had already exited the cell. Brian followed, leaving Luna behind.

"4...3...2," Jess counted as they walked away with the guard. Luna began to cry loudly from the cell, which echoed down several halls near her.

"Every time," Brian said, referring to Luna's hatred of being alone, which was ironic considering her master preferred being alone quite often.

"Can't blame her for it," Jess replied. The security guard then grabbed his walkie-talkie from his left shoulder and began talking.

"Yeah, it's Mark. We got a barking dog having a fit, I need you to take it to Aggressive Training, section B-2," he spoke. "It's in a cell...yeah...Building D Minimum Security, just follow the barking noise; you'll locate it pretty quickly."

"Yes, it's a dog in a cell...just take the damn dog!" He sounded aggravated. In a few seconds, they waited in line for a significantly short time to get today's breakfast: toast, water, fruit, and yogurt. The guard left them sitting across from each other at a table, exiting down a hall. Jess snorted at the not-so-disgusting jail food that was served, thinking of how thousands of inmates across the United States would kill for this kind of food.

"Alright, here's the deal." Brian began. Jess took a big bite of toast and gulped down some water as he spoke.

"We need to figure out a plan here." He explained.

"Good point, Sherlock," Jess added some sarcasm.

"Yeah..." he waited for the attitude to end before continuing. "Anyway, we should start with the basics and then work our way up to different tactics to get these guys. If there's one thing we should know right off the bat, it's that cr—"

"Criminals get crafty" she recited a quote from the lecture they were given the first day at the police academy. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, and then switched to business mode.

"We should get a couple maps of Miami; hot spots, criminal activity, all that." He bit a chunk off his apple.

"From local PD?" Jess asked.

"A little bit of both. We'll need to dig deep for underground info. The best way I can think of to get in good with the ones linked with this kind of stuff is pretty much doing their dirty work, you know, gain respect." _Kind of like Dom_, Jess thought. A bitter memory passed through her mind before she shook it off.

"Sounds good, but what about weaponry? These guys won't go easy on the Uzis, and I'm pretty sure the cops won't be willing to hand us ammo either. We're not agents anymore, Brian." Jess had downed the rest of her water and was digging in on her yogurt. Silence fell upon them as Brian sought out for an answer through his apple.

"I'm sure Tej has some connections or something we can use," he finally replied. Jess sighed.

"A little flawed but doable," she described his plan. "Now all we need is to get out of this place." she added. They finished their food, finding new ways to improve their plan, then they were escorted back to the cell. While they waited for Luna to return from training, they were signing the same contract they always did before accepting a case. "Done." Jess said and handed her papers.


	3. Back in the Game

Now the mission had begun. They were driven back to the yacht police-escort style. "Alright, first things first. Let's check out this guy's dossier." Jess entered first with a couple of folders in her hand. Luna made herself comfortable on the bed while Brian put his keys on the end table.

"What do we have?" he walked towards Jess.

"Armando Cuevas, drug lord. Has quite a few connections down here especially." She set aside the opened folder and grabbed the next one.

"Trevor Simmons, illegal weapons trafficking. Some robberies here and there...lots of aggravated assault. And a group called 'East Dameons', subdivision of the 'Lo Dameons'. From what we've got, looks like they're some kind of gang originating from Florida. Doesn't look like we've got much on them though, just certain individuals."

"I guess they're the ones who slipped up." He replied. They skimmed through the documents in each folder.

"Bring me a map, we need to localize them," Brian told her. She pulled out a larger map of Florida and pinned it on the wall, just beside the television.

"Ok so from this information we know Armando is more focused on the ports. So he'll be near Homestead, Cutler Bay."

"Miami?" She asked, and he nodded in response. Jess marked these areas with a pencil and labeled them.

"And Señor Weapons Trafficker?" she asked. He moved closer to the map.

"My guess is he'll be doing some business in the neighborhoods. Might start some wars and fights that way. I don't think he'll do much in places like Tallahassee or Jacksonville."

"What about ports on the coast? Could get some customers that way too." She pointed out.

"I don't know, probably. But it's a start. We can build up more possible locations as we go along. We should work on Armando first. He probably knows someone or has a connection to the Dameons. Plus he's local so hopefully you won't whine too much when we drive there." He joked, organizing all the files neatly on the desk in front of the map they had been observing.

"I'm a girl, we love to whine," she punched him in the stomach and tried to knee him.

"Oh, yeah? About what?" he snickered. "About this?" He asked, forcing her head to move towards his armpit.

"Aw dude gross!" Jess exclaimed. She used her legs to bring him crashing to the ground. While Jess tried to defend herself from being tickled, Luna had decided that she was being denied attention for too long, and leaped off the bed to join them.

"Luna, help me!" Jess laughed, but she had already picked sides against her master. "Get her, Luna. Get her!" Brian assisted Luna in swarming Jess.

"No! Brian! Okay, okay truce! Come on, temporary truce!" She begged. Brian stopped tickling her and restrained Luna.

"How temporary?" He smiled. How long was it since they last messed around with each other like this? They were so busy being dedicated to their jobs that every once in a while they forgot they were supposed to be best friends, not just coworkers.

"Three seconds!" Jess used this opportunity to recover from the attack and bring an unaware Brian down to the ground. Luna escaped from his grasp and began attacking Brian.

"You suck you know that?" Brian responded, trying to fight both off at the same time. Every time he pushed Luna away to focus his energy on Jess, the dog came back, biting his arms and clawing him with a playful but rowdy force.

"Alright, time to bring out the tank force," he said.

"Wow I'm pissing myself in fear," Jess added some sarcasm.

Suddenly, with the strength men naturally possess, Brian used his arms to lift her legs off of his chest, bringing her down to the ground once more. Then, he stood over her, picked her up while she struggled to fight back, and dropped her face down on the bed.

"Wait! Brian!" She desperately tried to stop him. But he had indeed brought out the tank by forcing all of his weight on her smaller body. She tried to say something, but was cut off by Brian.

"What's that? I can't understand you, Jess. Please speak more clearly," he taunted her while Luna jumped right beside him.

"You're such an ass," Jess repeated through a crushed voice. She grunted while trying to free herself from his weight, but couldn't. Finally Brian got off of her and roughly patted Jess on the head. As she replied with an "Ow," he said, "That's why you don't mess with the best."

He walked away from the bed to leave his shoes by the window when Jess said "But the best isn't here," while getting up. Brian did a 180 degree turn and tackled her back onto the bed. Luna had decided that she had had enough of their horseplay and jumped off the bed to eat from her bowl on the floor.

"Bitch get off!" Jess demanded. Once again, this time sideways to be less harsh on her body, he spread his weight over her.

"Make me." He smiled.

"I'm gonna punch you," she warned. He laughed.

"And look how that turned out."

"Shut up," she laughed with him. He got up and took off his shirt.

"I'm gonna shower. Don't miss me too much," he walked into the bathroom.

"Oh I'll try," she replied with sarcasm. While she heard the water turn on in the bathroom, she walked over to the laptop lying on one of the end tables and began a meticulous search of anything she could find about Armando Cuevas.

As usual, the Miami PD had given them a criminal who knew how to hide his tracks fairly well, keeping in mind that he wasn't a complete genius at it, as Jess soon found out. Nevertheless, he was better at it than a percentage of criminals out there. But dirty business is always bound to leave something behind. Some links she found were rewards offered by the police in exchange for his arrest, but these were oddly recent. There should be no need to keep posting wanted ads for this guy, since Jess and Brian were already hired to do the job, but she pushed the thought away and continued her work. She also found that some sources had accused Armando of trafficking women and forcing them into prostitution. While there were few accounts of this and no evidence found to prove it, Jess decided it was still something to look out for when trying to locate and take down Armando.

Brian came out of the shower shortly before Jess had finished her research for the night. "What's all this?" he walked over to the stack of freshly printed paper beside the computer.

"Been trying to home in on our target's location. I dug deep into more background info on him. Some believe guns aren't his only business." Jess responded. He quickly skimmed the papers when some highlighted words caught his attention.

"He's trafficking women?"

"So they say," she said as the hum of another paper being printed ended the sentence.

"Take a look for yourself. Based on the activity history, my guess is he's around this area," she pulled up a map of Florida on the computer screen and pointed out a small section. She got up from the chair she was sitting on and allowed him to take a closer look.

"See if you can find anything else," she suggested. His thoughts were soon drowned out by the sound of the shower turning on. While Brian did browse on the Internet for a while, he couldn't find much trustworthy information about Armando Cuevas. Without even realizing it, his mind wandered off into the search engine. He found himself typing the words 'Dominic Toretto'. He had to admit, it was a bit odd that his self consciousness wanted to know what was going on with his old friend after so many years. Even still, he did not stop himself.


	4. Step One

Hi readers! I've finally decided to talk to you! Lol, actually I just discovered the wonders of this nifty tool called 'horizontal ruler' XD. Anyways, due to a rather fortunate mistake, I realized that this chapter was long finished quite a while ago, I just didn't ralize that it needed some quick editing. So, the chapter preceding this one should be up in less than 24 hours. Isn't that great :D Thanks a lot to those who have reviewed and favorited and alerted, it makes me happy ^_^ Enjoy the new chapter!

PS: Check my profile often to see how new chapters are progressing so you know how done (or not done) they are :)

* * *

The following morning, the pair went to pay their good friend Tej a visit. Pulling up beside his garage, they greeted the man with open arms. They hadn't seen each other in months. It was much too long.

"Yo, Rome! We got a couple o' strangers up in here!" He smiled at Brian and Jess, giving each one a hug.

"What the hell? Where you two been, man?" They heard Rome's loud voice boom behind them.

Laughter spread inside the garage Tej owned. Looks like they had arrived earlier than the garage's open business hours, but that didn't mean the man of the place wasn't up this early, prepping for the day's customers. Giving Jess a long glance up and down as Tej grabbed chairs for everyone, Rome commented with a mocking smile, "Still got tiny tits, girl."

"Still got a tiny dick, Rome." She joked back, motioning to his groin. Brian and Tej laughed, waiting for Rome's too-soon reply.

"Girl, you know I'm packin' some muscle under these pants!" he said, thrusting his pelvis in a vulgar way to make a point. She just rolled her eyes and smiled as they all sat down and caught up with each other on their recent adventures.

"They're not letting you sign up for bounty huntin' no more?" Tej asked, incredulous. Jess nodded in reply.

"You're the expert on Florida's streets. We were hoping maybe you could help us pinpoint the locations of our targets...or throw us in the right direction." Brian stated.

"You down?" Jess asked their friends as she leaned back on the chair.

Tej and Rome exchanged looks.

"Man, what you think?" Rome replied as both smiled mischievously.

They all burst laughing, which lasted for a few minutes, then got back to business. Rome and Tej were handed the file on Armando Cuevas, which included both the considerably small amount of intel the police provided and the research conducted by Jess and Brian the previous night.

"Armando Manuel Cuevas," Rome read off the file.

"Sound familiar at all?" Jess asked them.

"I think it does, actually," responded Tej, who was staring into blank space as he thought. He rose from his chair suddenly and exited the garage. Jess raised an eyebrow at both Rome and Brian.

"Huh..."

Minutes later, Tej emerged with some papers in hand.

"June 24th: Armando Cuevas orders a tune up for a Lamborghini Murciélago. Wants NOS installments, a new engine, brakes, transmission and suspension; the typical stuff racers want. It wasn't cheap for him, but here's the thing: the guy himself never went to set the order or even pick it up. He sent some other dude to do it. I know because I recognized him from one of the races. And his name is _not _Armando Cuevas."

"So what's his name?" Brian pressed on.

"Calls himself 'Blood Dog'. Cause he's always lookin' for blood to spill."

Jess snickered at his nickname and Tej continued on. "Anyway, I seen this cat every once in a while. Especially when he's runnin' them motorcycle races. That seems to be the guy's signature thing. Maybe with some persuasion," he winked at Jess. "He could get you guys deep into Cuevas's business. He doesn't seem to be very clever; he'd probably lead you right to him. Just a thought." He shrugged.

Brian 'hmm'ed and thought calmly about it. Jess, on the other hand, was anything but calm.

"When you say 'persuasion'...what do you mean?" She asked.

Tej chuckled. He motioned for her to get up from her chair and asked her to spin around. Confused, she followed his orders and after finishing the spin, kept standing up.

"Hmm. What you think, Rome?"

Rome scoffed. "I think you outta yo mind, bro. She needs work, man."

"Oh, _I_ need work!" She sat down angrily.

"_Yeah_, you need work. Start with the chest, you won't get any man's attention if you don't find a way to make it bigger. Next...look at how you dress. You need to look like Brian's slut or something, not a grease girl. That could throw someone off. And pay attention to how you act. You know… move and walk like a girl should; not that guy swagger you always got." He crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.

She turned to Brian. "Can you believe this?"

He froze in his seat and looked at Jess, then Rome and Tej. He snickered in reply and shook his head in amusement.

"This isn't funny, Brian." She said sternly, staring at him as if she was his mother.

"He's got a point though," he admitted raising his gaze to her face, then looking her up and down as he remembered what Rome had said.

"Are you serious right now?" She was incredulous. "I don't need to look like a slut to get us inside. Come on, I don't want to go undercover! Besides, there's another version of persuasion we can use!" Her hands balled into fists and waved them in the air for effect.

"And that attracts attention," Tej stated. She sighed in defeat. All eyes were on her.

"Look, it's simple. Brian's lookin' to run with Cuevas and his crew. Jess can...persuade 'Blood Dog' to give Brian a chance to hang with them. You earn their trust, you'll get to Cuevas. Then you take him out. Done deal." He continued.

"Easier said than done," Brian muttered, scratching his chin as he pondered the plan.

"Seduce! How the fuck am I gonna seduce the guy! I'm not sexy! I don't even _want_ to touch him! And 'Blood Dog'? Really? How the hell is that supposed to turn _anyone _on!" She yelled mostly at Brian. Rome scoffed.

"You got lady friends, use them!"

"Okay, well, I don't know if you noticed, but my lady friends aren't sluts! So how are they gonna teach me to be like one, huh?" She retorted.

"Well, maybe if you-"

"Not happening!" Jess interrupted Tej.

"Look, this isn't an acting gig, Jess. But we can't find any other way to get close to this guy. We need him if we're gonna get to Cuevas. Plus, should I remind you that we're up against the clock? These guys could ship off to Europe any minute and we wouldn't know till it's too late," Brian said.

Once again, all eyes were on her. She sighed desperately, hoping an alternative would come to anyone's mind. Nada. She was about to say something witty in hopes that it could get her out of this when Brian cut her off.

"Don't worry; I'll be with you 24/7 in case they try to get tricky. I won't let them hurt you, Jess."

Silence.

"I get to carry a gun with me at _all _times and I get permission to blow my cover when I feel even the _slightest_ bit threatened. IS-THAT-CLEAR? Otherwise, deal's off."

"Looks like we're in business," Tej grinned.

"Alright. Now go get yourself slutted up and call us when you're done. I need to see what I'm working with, here." Brian told her.

Jess rolled her eyes and muttered "The girls are gonna get a kick outta this one." She exited the property with her cell phone in hand.

Once she left the garage, the guys all got to work as Tej's business opened up and customers came walking in.

Hours later, after the majority of Tej's clients were satisfied with their fixed cars and left, the three men sat down once again to chat. Their backs were towards the entrance of the garage, which meant they all faced the lake where Tej sometimes held ski races. They spent some time reminiscing when Brian got a text. It read 'Turn around' and was sent by Lexy, one of Jess's best friends.

Confused, he turned his head, Tej and Rome following his actions, to see three women standing there. One of Jess's best friends, Ayana, dark skinned with her hair in a bun, and clad in a hoodie and jeans, was on the far left. Suki, wearing a plain white shirt and short red skirt with her hair flowing, was on the inner left. To the right was Lexy, light skinned but still tan, wearing shorts and a tank top as her red streaked hair was picked up in a ponytail, no doubt due to Miami's fierce heat.

And on the inner right stood...Jess? It almost didn't look like her, except for the unmistakable scowl on her face. It _has_ to be her.

She was by far the tallest one of the three girls, even taller now because of her high-heeled boots. She wore black leather shorts with a white belt; attached to it was a chain hanging from the left side. She had on a very low cut white shirt with only one strap. Her brown hair was down as usual and her eyelids were a smoky gray color but beyond that, the only thing that caught the three mens' attention was her attire.

"What the hell?" Rome exclaimed. Brian's jaw simply hung open.

"DAMN!" Tej yelled.

"One more word and I'll chop you dicks off!" Jess threatened, crossing her arms.

She did not like this one bit. Ayana, Suki, and Lexy enjoyed themselves, but not Jess. The shopping and trying on so many clothes was tiring enough, but add the makeup, the hair styling (which was very painful because her curly hair did not want to co-operate at all), the walking in high heels like a hooker should, not like a 12 year-old, and the flirting exercises and you get a very tired and annoyed Jessenia. If it were any other circumstance besides this, she would have had some fun, knowing that it was all just for laughs, and that it would come off right away so she could continue being the tomboy she always was, and Brian, or any guy she knew, for that matter, would _never_ find out, and that she could just kick ass and take names without thinking twice about her dignity. But no, _this _had to happen. How lucky is she.

"What do you think, huh?" Lexy smiled at her best friend and turned to the guys.

"I have ten pounds of hairspray on my head, I feel like naked white trash, my eyes are burning from this piece of shit mascara, my feet hurt from these fucking boots, I have no place to put my goddamn gun, and now there's three dicks staring at me. I think this was the best fucking idea ever!" Jess answered her.

"Is she on her period?" Rome asked Brian.

"Yes, I'm on my mental period, Rome!" She spit back.

"Come on, chill. You look hot, Jess!" Ayana smiled up at her. Jess couldn't take it; she couldn't pull an angry face at Ayana. She looked so sweet and innocent when on the inside that girl could be as dirty minded as Jess. They had met back in high school and had become best friends ever since, always supporting each other and always giving one another a good laugh. Jess sighed.

"Well, I don't feel so hot," she muttered, upset.

"Oh, we put it on your tab, by the way," Lexy mentioned to Brian, smiling. His eyes grew wide. She looked damn expensive...too expensive for his tastes if it regarded his money.

"What?"

"You can kiss your NOS upgrades," Jess smirked evilly at him.

"Oh, you bi-"

She started heading towards him when Lexy and Ayana pulled her back.

"You wanna go? Let's go, you and me, Brian. Come on, fight me! Let's do this!"

"_Enough_!" Lexy yelled. Jess stopped struggling and they released their grips on her.

"You guys can fight in your own time, but right now there are more important things to do. It's getting dark soon and that means there'll be some races around here."

"Hey, didn't you say that one dick runs the motorcycle circuits around here?" Jess asked Tej.

"Sure did."

"So that means we should pay him a little visit," Brian smiled.

"And that means it's your first audition," Ayana added, pointing to Jess.

"Oh, joy."


	5. Audition

Too short? What do you guys think?

* * *

"This is some bullshit," Jess muttered on the way to Haven Avenue, where tonight's races would begin.

"Well get used to it. Once we're out of this car, I expect a slut walking with me." Brian scolded behind the wheel. She groaned in frustration.

"So do I get a new identity or what?"

"Jess. We'll keep it simple and easy to remember."

"No shit, I've remembered that name for over 20 years. "Last name?"

"Uhhh…Simmons?"

"Like Gene Simmons?" She chuckled. He shrugged and smiled.

"And I assume you're Brian Earl Spilner?" She laughed at his undercover name.

"Have we met before?" He smirked at her.

"I might have added you on Facebook."

He chuckled at her response and pulled up near other parked cars. Several of them lined up towards the streets to create a closed course. There was a considerable amount of people here, ranging from racers to sluts, mechanics, and onlookers. After they opened the car's trunk, Brian discreetly handed Jess a blade, which she stared at oddly.

"I want a gun, not a knife."

"Look there's not much room for a gun to fit anywhere on you. You wanted some protection, so here's what you've got." He pushed the handle into her hands. He pulled out a pistol from the trunk and put it down his jeans and under his T-shirt. Her jaw almost hit the floor.

"Are you kidding me?" She whispered sharply as they walked closer to the crowds forming along the cars. The knife was concealed under her uncomfortably tight shirt. If she arched her back slightly, the small lump of steel was almost unnoticeable.

"Not my fault you're wearing a skimpy outfit." He casually slid his arm over her waist.

"Fuck you," she muttered and hesitantly moved closer to him.

He leaned over her and whispered "You wish. Anyway, the motorcycle races always start out first. Tej said the guy was American. Black hair, brown eyes. Kinda tall. Runs a green Suzuki Hayabusa-2011. Eyes and ears open."

"Hayabusa? Nice ride. 10-4." She responded, nervously inching closer to him as she looked around. This was her first undercover job and she was afraid of making any mistakes. Brian was almost like a safety blanket since he's done this before. They walked aimlessly and eventually separated to their respective groups to blend in more. Jess hung out with a group of sluts chatting and Brian went over to some weird looking racers. He guessed they were probably newbies and moved on to talking with the spectators in the crowd. Someone caught Jess's eyes through her peripheral vision. A Caucasian guy, dark haired, walking with his posse. He looked like he owned the whole damn state with his pride polluting the air. She searched for Brian but couldn't find him.

"So who's that...uh...stud?" She asked the group of women she was talking with.

One of the sluts pushed her boobs higher and looked at him. "Oh, that's Roy, but he calls himself 'Blood Dog'. He runs on the cycle circuits. Guy's got deep pockets. Real deep." She smiled and walked over to him. Flocks of girls were beginning to migrate towards him and his boys already.

_Better get a front row seat,_ Jess thought. But she was getting more and more nervous as she approached the quickly-growing crowd of girls. _What the hell am I supposed to do? _

She froze in place. _Oh shit, he's looking at me! Wait, is he?_

She couldn't tell whether he really was because there were still some sane people behind her who weren't part of his crowd. He smirked in her direction and walked over to her. _Fuck me._ She stood still as he approached her, the massive crowd around him gradually reducing.

"Hey, baby." He winked.

_What the fuck did you just call me you prick! _

"I haven't seen you around here. You new?" He leaned back against some sluts casually. She licked her lips nervously as she discreetly searched for Brian. He was going to get a piece of her mind later. "Uh..." Was all that escaped her lips when a warm arm firmly held onto her waist from behind. _Watch your hands, bucko._ She leaned back into Brian's chest slightly, mimicking the man before her.

"She yours?" He addressed Brian.

"Depends. Up for a run?" He replied. Silence befell them as they stared one another down.

"You deep? I don't run with scraps."

"Name your price." She could _hear_ Brian's smile through that challenge. Roy smiled smugly and stole a look at Jess before turning back to Brian.

"100 g's," he grinned at him. Gasps and excited noises emerged from the crowd forming around the two men.

"150," Brian crossed his arms casually.

"200. Take it or leave it, white boy." Roy was angry. Jess could hardly suppress a snicker. Still, 200 grand is a lot of money. Jess didn't even know he brought that much money in the car. Brian was taking a risk by accepting the offer, which he did. The crowd gasped at their costly match. They weren't the average street racers, that was for sure.

"This is my turf. So we're running my circuit. Two laps around Mel's Pier." Brian nodded, acknowledging the area.

"First one back wins." They shook hands and walked off to their motorcycles. Brian went over to the closest garage and rented a decent one for the event. It was definitely no Hayabusa, but it was the best they had.

"Are you insane? This is like Rocky vs. Justin Bieber! How the fuck are you gonna beat this asshole with that shit?" Jess reprimanded him while they were out of earshot from the rest of the crowd.

"Doesn't matter. As long as he knows my name at the finish line." He smiled at her and put a helmet on. _What the hell is he talking about!_ She groaned in frustration as he motioned over to his car and asked her to get the money out.

"Did you seriously bring that much cash for a damn race?" She asked as she handed him two large rolls of money. He winked at her just as she was forced to wait on the sidelines; the race was beginning in 10 minutes.

As Roy wheeled in his green motorcycle, Brian stiffened. He just realized what a new sensation this was- being in a motorcycle circuit. He hadn't run on those in years; he usually stuck to cars because they were more his style. Now he froze at the thought of competing against an expert, no doubt. The objective was to get Roy's attention; but how was he going to do that and not make a fool out of himself at the same time? He looked over to his left and grew anxious when he saw Jess at the sidelines, surrounded by Roy's guys. _Shit._

His gaze met her body and he automatically knew she was scared; her arms were crossed over her almost exposed chest, her hands seemed to squeeze the life out of her own biceps, her feet were planted firmly on the ground, not leaning on anything for support. She was _not _comfortable. He looked up in her eyes and his hypothesis was confirmed: those brown eyes, usually full of her sarcastic, threatening, and cynical aura showed something completely different now.

The threatening look was still there, but to another degree. Her glare to no one in particular shakily said 'Make a move and see what happens'. Those eyes projected fear of the unknown, anger, stiffness, and something else; like she was apprehensive about the moment when one of those men made a wrong move. She looked down at him through the clear visor of his helmet. He nodded at her, hoping to provide whatever reassurance he could. She returned the nod stiffly and turned her attention to the road ahead of him. He did the same as a pair of showgirls spray painted the start/finish line.

_Well, here goes nothing, _he thought. Roy turned to his competitor with an evil look in his eyes.

"Don't blink, you could burn out," He taunted before flipping down his visor and revving his bike for the crowd.

His fans wildly cheered and clapped for him as Brian tried to focus on his objective. _Focus_, he told himself.

_Breathe. Look for an opening and use it._

He did his best to ignore the taunts he received from the crowd. They were obviously cheering for Roy instead of the newcomer- this was _his_ turf, after all.

The showgirl raised a red bandanna above her head. Both racers revved their vehicles in response. The crowd couldn't be louder. There were mixes of roars, laughter, cheering, and taunting shooting out of countless lips from the sidelines. The red cloth slowly dropped below the hands of said showgirl who was previously holding it. In a flash, Brian and Roy accelerated almost simultaneously- it was hard to tell who was in the lead by milliseconds. As they gained more ground, it was obvious that Roy's Hayabusa was in control.

But all experienced racers know that it takes the combination of speed, strategy, skill, experience, and equipment to win any bout. This became Brian's motto as he trailed behind his opponent.

The streets became narrower and turned into alleyways lined with garbage cans as the two bikes ran down the asphalt. The lights around Brian meshed into many streaks of brightness, the colors flowing with him as the tires of his bike scratched the ground below. The wind guided him and pushed him beside Roy as he caught up with him at a wide turn. Mel's Pier wasn't far off; he knew he needed to get ahead sooner or later.

Exiting the long and winding alleyway, they both entered the empty streets that led to Mel's Pier. They were one freeway exit away from the destination. Brian decided to try to acquire more momentum before attempting to pass by Roy, so in the meantime, he continued to linger behind, taking every curve of the road and small drifts easy. Roy, on the other hand, sped by quite leisurely. He seemed to lose stability just slightly because of his greater velocity, but he always managed to maneuver himself back in control. Brian envied this. It meant he needed to put in greater effort in order to catch up even just a little. He was so uncomfortable with this; usually he would rely on his formidable green Mitsubishi Lancer or gray Skyline more than his driving skills to win him a race, now he was dealing with a crappy motorcycle against a much better one and money wasn't the only thing at stake. It could turn into something more dangerous. He saw the way Roy's men looked at Jess. Sure, she had a blade, but 5 against one were bleak odds against her. He was _not_ going to let them touch her.

They exited the rather empty freeway and onto the street connecting to Mel's Pier. In mere seconds, the loud growls of two motorcycles filled the half crowded dock. Now was the time to strike, Brian concluded. He only had one and a half lap to make a move, whatever it was. Otherwise, this whole operation would go to shit.

He accelerated his bike as it slowly began to reach its maximum. He was still a few feet behind. They came to a turn and Brian vied to the inner right in hopes of covering more ground and getting ahead. But as the turn became a straight road, Roy zoomed by easily.

"Shit!" Brian growled in frustration. He could see Roy's shoulders shake a little—the bastard was laughing.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered. _It_—_is—on!_

He revved his bike once more and steered to Roy's left. _Just a little more speed!_ Brian focused on the empty space ahead, just waiting for him. They completed the first lap, Brian not much closer than he was previously. He was making _very_ slow progress, too slow. Brian allowed himself a small glance at his bike's arsenal to see if he could pull a magic lifesaver out of his ass. He saw a small red button with three familiar letters in caps: NOS.

His heart skipped a beat and as soon as they finished another turn and he was sure that he was on a straight road, he pressed. The air from his lungs was cut off as the addictive rush of instant speed pushed him closer to Roy. His euphoria, however, was short lived. Obviously, his bike was not the best choice he had made; the NOS boost lasted for 3-4 seconds of mediocre speed. Hell, this challenge was probably a bad decision too. But there was no turning back now, no way out. There was no restart button, he had to keep going. And he did.


	6. Challenger

He finally caught up to Roy as he maintained control and arrived by his side. Roy didn't seem to be very intimidated. Instead, he cruised along and entered a shortcut into the freeway. Having little knowledge of the area, Brian followed. The paved road turned into a dirt alley in between old, rundown apartments. He lost his 'advantage' when he struggled maintaining his speed on the rocky surface. Dust kicked up in front of him from Roy's bike, angering the ex cop even more.

He knew he was running out of time now. Dirt became asphalt once more and he hoped to use whatever speed he could muster to miraculously catch up and maybe even pass by his opponent. The latter seemed almost impossible when the two passed by several head lights.

They were driving on the wrong side of the road. Lovely. More obstacles to slow him down. He floored the gas pedal even though he was sure that if he put any more pressure on it, it might break. He fell into the illusion that he was gaining even a hair of speed. Then reality struck when they reached the off-ramp. All Brian saw of Roy was a small pair of red tail-lights in the horizon. He was fighting a losing battle, and he was losing a crucial lead to Armando Cuevas.

The rest of the race was a blur; it didn't matter to Brian anymore. He lost the race by 10 seconds. The time difference didn't matter either. _'It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning's winning_' Dom's voice thundered in Brian's head. After crossing the spray painted finish line, Brian looked away from his opponent, from the crowd. Instead he looked at Jess, standing at the sidelines with her arms crossed and Roy's thugs finally off her back. He let out a sigh; at least she was unharmed. She shook her head at him and he looked away in shame. He knew he just fucked up badly.

He rolled the bike over to where he rented it and walked back with his hands in his pockets. He kept his head down until he met up with Jess. The rest of the crowd had opened up around Roy. He had an annoying smirk on his face, which made Brian want to slap it off. Roy began his cocky walk over to them both. Jess still hadn't said a word to Brian, which made him apprehensive of what she would do on the way home.

"Looks like you scraped the bottom of the barrel with this one, eh?" Roy cocked his head to Brian. She narrowed her eyes the slightest bit before smirking.

Brian scrunched his eyebrows together when he heard Roy's remark, but he kept quiet. He knew his chances with earning Roy's respect were down to single digits after the race. Starting a fight would only make things worse. Then he saw Jess smirk. Confused, he kept his mouth shut and stood back as she continued with Roy.

"Tell you what," she began, leaning on one leg casually.

"I challenge you to an outrun. If I win, I get the cash from the last race."

"Are you sure this is a fair competition? You sure don't look like you belong on the streets. Well, at least not _these_ streets," he smiled rudely.

"Then I guess you have nothing to worry about." She forced herself to be civil.

"And if I win?" There was more than a little hint of a sexual connotation from his voice.

"You decide," she answered carefully, not wanting to give him any ideas. Of course, the bastard already knew what he wanted.

Brian almost didn't want to hear what came from his mouth, but he had to; they were the terms of the challenge after all.

"I want you, gorgeous," he winked at her.

'Not in a million years, prickface,' she wanted to say. But instead she stiffly nodded. "It's a deal then."

The crowd cheered for another race, mostly because they were getting a free show. Knowing that Jess came along with Brian, the people booed against her and rooted for their Blood Dog. She didn't care, she had a trick up her sleeve that was foolproof. Looks like she was going to have to clean up Brian's mess.

Together they walked back to the car and from the trunk, she removed a shoebox. Brian sat with her on the hood and watched as she took off her black boots and put on some socks and sneakers.

Some of Roy's men and the male crowd tried to get a good look at her groin, but she tried her best to make it hard for them. "No way in hell I'm racing in fucking heels," she muttered to herself. She put the boots in the box and placed it back in the trunk. She got in the black Nissan and drove it up to the finish line.

Roy lined up his Hayabusa next to her car, eyeing her every once in a while. She pretended not to notice by turning to Brian and muttering expletives about Roy.

"So tell me how you plan to win?" He queried, arms crossed and looking over Jess's shoulder, stealing a few glances at Roy.

"Doesn't matter. As long as he knows my name at the finish line," she smirked.

"Stealing my lines again," he tsked.

"I got this. Just make sure you thank me later after I clean up your milk spill," she told him with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

The minutes flew by as everyone prepped for the race. Soon enough, Jess found herself sitting in a black Nissan 350z, NOS system ready, skate shoes repeatedly slamming on the gas pedal as she revved, and taking deep breaths as the time counted down. The same showgirl from Brian's race presented herself, holding the same red bandanna as before.

Jess smirked at the sight of it hanging loosely in the air. It represented Roy's chance at beating her in the outrun. As soon as it dropped, so would his chances of winning. He may not know it, but Jess knew the techniques of what it took to win an outrun. She mastered them in a past life; not even Brian knew about this.

An outrun was almost like a race in a way: once the competitors accelerated, the leader had to go in whatever direction they pleased, so long as their opponent did not pass them. Depending on the race terms, one racer had to stay in the lead for one minute, or win by a certain distance when returning to the starting line. Either way, there are no ties.

Since the night grew darker, this bout would be especially difficult for both Jess and Roy. Not only would they have to keep an eye on one another, but also any incoming traffic they came across. Plus, Jess was at a disadvantage: Roy was in a motorcycle, therefore it was more maneuverable and could squeeze into tight spaces. Then again, Jess's car had a GPS. Hopefully it would overrule whatever luck or skill Roy might have.

Before she knew it, Jess's and Roy's feet were slamming on the gas pedals of their respective vehicles. The red bandanna was drifting slowly towards the ground compared to the speeds of the two racers.

She could feel the aggressive purr of the motor as she cruised on ahead of her opponent. In two seconds flat, she started to gain some distance. Then Roy decided to pull something out of his ass quick and floored it. Whatever distance between them was cut in half. Jess responded by accelerating even more, keeping her eyes off the mirrors in her car and onto the road.

The long stretch of pavement they were currently racing on would split up into left and right, according to Jess's GPS. She had kept to the center of the road throughout this time, and now she would have to make a choice, and quickly.

She kept straight and turned left at the last minute, hoping to throw Roy off. Although he was caught off guard, he still managed to catch up somewhat. Fortunately, there still was a considerably greater distance between them than before.

By the time she was preparing to choose her next turn, Roy was trying to catch up to her and make up for lost time. She decided to cut him off by making a sharp turn into an alley. Her headlights lit the way in front of her as she tried to dodge debris. A few seconds later, the alley somehow led to what looked like a construction site.

"_Dammit!"_ She yelled in frustration. Racing through construction sites at night was always bad news. Now, she had no choice. If she turned around, not only would she get lost, but she would be giving Roy a chance to pass her. After Brian's little slip-up, she couldn't afford to do that.

"How 'bout a game of chicken?" She yelled at him from her car and sped up, daring him to follow.

"Only if you're ready to taste my dust, baby!" He told her and laughed.

"Or vice-versa, motherfucker," she muttered.

Slamming her foot on the gas pedal, she zoomed farther away from him until her heart stopped at the sight before her: in between the buildings they were currently racing through was a large gap around 20 feet wide.

"Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit!" She yelled and was thankful for her quick reflexes when she pushed the NOS button on the car. Immediately, she felt the great push her car received as it was propelled forward while flames came out of the exhaust pipes, forcing Roy to slow down and create distance so he wouldn't get burned.

When she reached the edge of the floor and saw the gap ahead, she made an apprehensive noise, then an excited whoop when she felt the car soar in midair. After roughly touching down, she zoomed ahead onto a wooden ramp that led back to solid ground. She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and proceeded to return back to the finish line.

She allowed herself to glance briefly at the rear-view mirror to see how Roy was holding out. There was just one problem-Roy was nowhere in sight.

"Any other day, I'd want you to die. Right now, not so much. Where are you, motherfucker?" She muttered to herself.

This was not good. If something bad happened to Roy, well...for one, Brian would never forgive her. Plus they would both most likely get shot.

Then, like a miracle at work, she heard the loud, high pitched hum of a motorcycle, and her rear-view mirror filled with the sight of a Hayabusa.

"Looks like he _can_ keep up," she smiled to herself. _But you're still a dick, _she frowned. By now, she was cruising down the street, already hearing the sound of the crowd nearby.

Maybe karma or some other force tried to mess her up tonight, but she prevailed. Her heart was racing by the time the finish line was in sight. She eased up her speed using the brakes as some of the crowd actually gravitated towards her instead of their 'Blood Dog'. She couldn't suppress the smile on her face when she heard them cheer and clap for her.

She stepped out of the black Nissan, the lights all around her reflecting on its surface. She looked up at the crowd and weaving through the sea of unknown faces, she saw a familiar one. He had light blue eyes that lit up like a Christmas tree as they met her own. He had a cheeky grin she hadn't seen in a while, with his hands in his pockets as he shouldered his way towards her. His black T-shirt rippled as he moved and his new Converse stood out compared to her faded ones. She looked down at her own and chuckled at their condition, her hair falling into her face in sculpted but frizzy curls.

When he was a mere 5 feet from her, he pulled his hands from his jean pockets and enveloped her in a strong, almost bone-crushing hug.

"You just saved our asses," he muttered into her ear, smiling.

"Just remember you owe me," She gave him a warning look and hugged him back.

He chuckled in response and gave the side of her ass a slap. 'Whoa there buddy, watch your hands,' she was about to say; then logic kicked in. She realized what she was wearing, the people that were surrounding them, and the fact that they were both undercover.

She couldn't be herself right now; she would have to get Brian back later. Right now, she was his slut.

Immediately, she cringed at the thought of degrading herself to that status. But at the moment, her pride would have to come in second due to this mission.

Both turned around to meet face to face with Roy. He angrily tore off his helmet, but suddenly kept his cool as his eyes switched from Brian's to Jess's.

"Not bad, cutie. Better than your half-assed boyfriend over here," he cocked his head towards Brian.

She felt his grip on her waist tighten, but other than that, he maintained composure.

Brian chuckled half-heartedly with a slice of bitterness threaded in that only Jess could detect.

"You know," Roy began to say when his posse showed up behind him.

"You two're aiight," he smiled, handing his helmet to one of his boys.

"You're not looking for some jobs by any chance, are ya?" He asked with a mischievous look on his face.

"You talkin' about the _exotic_ kind?" Jess responded.

"So the kitty can talk business too, eh?" Roy seemed to be turned on. Jess regretted ever speaking at that moment.

"What do you say we meet up tomorrow to sort out the details? 'Puma' at 11PM. Sound good?" He continued.

"See you there," Brian shook hands with him. And just like that, the two ex-agents found themselves sitting inside the black Nissan, driving across town to their humble abode.

"Nice. We got him on the first night." Jess counted the bundle of money from tonight's winnings.

"Looks like it. Don't know why he was so open to us though." He said calmly.

"Maybe because all we are to him is just a pair of dispensable workers who know how to do the dirty, exotic jobs?" She rolled up the cash and put it in the cup holder.

"It's all there; your cash and his. He may be an asshole but he's got a penny of honesty in him," she pointed to the money.

"Good. We don't need tricks to get played on us this early on."

A silence passed between them after Jess rolled up the window from her side.

"So how was your first day undercover?"

He asked, keeping his eyes on the road the entire time.

"Not cool. I'd rather just stick with the kick-assery that is chasing down baddies." She crossed her arms. He chuckled at her answer, making her smile a bit.

Silence once again. They knew they had just come out of a sticky situation, one that could have taken their lives that night. Now it was time to calm their nerves and wait till the trace of adrenaline, however small, runs out.


	7. Here's My Business Card

BIG MESSAGE MUST READ:

I'm currently editing the first few chapters in this story because they are so incredibly shitty that I can't live with myself if I don't improve them :P I understand that it's kind of a hassle to re-read a story, and you don't have to, but at least read the revised version of chapter one, because it includes A LOT of new content. Thanks for reading and enjoy this new chapter fresh out of the oven!

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Brian parked the Nissan in the garage and they both stepped out, walking into the yacht. Jess greeted Luna and raced to the bathroom, slamming the door in Brian's face, to which he responded with "Bitch".

She changed out of her slut clothes and into some blue ripped jeans, a white tank top, and skater shoes. She wiped off the heavy makeup that made her face feel like a birthday cake was slammed into it, tied her curly hair into a loose bun, and left the bathroom open to an almost-peeing-himself Brian.

He raced right in, doing the 'I'm-gonna-burst' dance and Jess heard him mutter a curse to her for taking so damn long before he slammed the door closed and did his business. Giggling, she left the yacht with Luna by her side and walked out to the empty parking lot next to the yacht. Even though the lot was their property as well, and no one ever trespassed on their land, Brian and Jess preferred keeping the cars stored in the garage; it was safer that way, both having a habit of applying the 'better safe than sorry' rule to almost everything.

Goosebumps spread like waves over Jess's skin as she breathed in the cold night air. The sky had turned a deep shade of blue. Luna took off to a random spot and disappeared out of Jess's view, quickly returning with a tennis ball in her mouth.

She laughed softly and took it in her hands. The dog sat patiently in front of her, eyes fixed on the ball. She tossed it a few yards away to give her a good run.

"Thought I'd find you here." A male voice came from behind her.

"Where else would I be?" She replied plainly.

He came up behind her and bumped her shoulder with his own. She returned to motion as Luna came back running eagerly with the ball in her mouth again. Brian took it and threw it for her.

"What do you say we do some training?"

She turned to him. "Training? For what?"

He studied her for a while before speaking, choosing his words carefully.

"Don't get offended, it's not like I don't think you can protect yourself," he said in a calming voice. She responded by crossing her arms and giving him a threatening look. He was already regretting having spoken at all. Any time anyone ever demeaned Jessica's combat skills, she made sure they suffered for it. Brian never doubted her capabilities, having experienced many of her beat-downs since they were kids, during the teenage years, and even in the present. Now that he thought about it, Jess always seemed to enjoy beating the hell out of him even more than she liked beating up Rome.

But the reason he suggested that they spar for a while was because during the ride back, he had been thinking of Roy's crude behavior towards Jess. There were many occasions in which he wanted to strangle the dick for acting that way towards her. Luckily, he managed to keep both himself and Jess from attacking the douche right then and there. Brian knew it wouldn't be long before Roy came onto Jess when Brian was, for whatever absurd reason, not by her side. And he hated to think what the bastard would do to her if she was caught by surprise. He wanted her to be able to handle herself should she be alone and unarmed. But to get her to see the logical reasons for his concern was not going to happen. He already knew that she wouldn't see his point of view. Still, he refused to let her face Roy without having learned something, regardless of her reluctance to otherwise.

_Might as well rip off the Band-Aid now_, he thought.

"Look, you never know what Roy might pull on us, and if for some reason we're separated...I just want to make sure that you've got more tricks up your sleeve if that happens." He looked into her eyes, hoping her cold stare wouldn't make this harder than it needed to be.

She sighed, acknowledging his point. "Fine. Let's do this then."

He sighed mentally. Thank God she was being rational today. Maybe she was finally seeing things from his perspective. Or maybe she just wanted to have another way to make Roy suffer. Brian guessed the latter.

Nodding, he went to the garage. Moments later he returned holding an unloaded pistol.

"Alright. I'm holding you at gunpoint," he explained their simulated scenario. "It's just me and you. Disarm me before I pull the trigger," he raised the gun and pointed it at her.

She had her hands loosely at her sides, feet spread apart and knees bent in a ready stance. She exhaled sharply and watched his movement, thinking of several disarm tactics.

"Ok," she whispered to herself, no longer seeing Brian with an empty gun, training her. She saw Roy, holding a pistol, ready to pull the trigger. Brian was nowhere in sight; she was going to save herself, not wait around like a little hopeless princess.

She set her feet firmly on the ground, then lunged at Brian and tackled him. She hoped that he would be unbalanced and drop the gun, and he did, but not before pulling the trigger at her.

Jess landed on top of him as she breathed lightly, realizing that she had failed. Brian held the gun loosely in his right hand and was trying to catch his breath. That woman could pack some force when she needed to.

"You need to be faster, Jess."

"That's what she said."

They got back into their positions and tried again with different tactics. Still, Jess was either not fast enough, or her plans were flawed. In a real situation, she wouldn't have half the time to think of a strategy as she did now. And right now she was overly pissed at her lack of progress.

"Come on, Jess. I know you can do this." Brian encouraged her.

She groaned in annoyance. They had repeated the simulation so many times that she eventually stopped making an effort. She drew in a few short breaths and relaxed herself. She got into the ready position and summoned her pent up anger to arise and provide her the adrenaline she needed.

She faked right and ran left in an attempt to circle behind him. It seemed to work for a millisecond until she heard the too-familiar _click!_ of the unloaded gun.

She sighed in annoyance and stared at him angrily. _If looks could kill,_ Brian thought.

She charged at him, ducking under his line of fire before he could shoot. She placed her hands over his wrists, fighting to be in possession of the gun. Forcing both their arms upward, Jess placed a forceful knee against Brian's crotch, bringing him down to a squat position. She kneed his forehead and with a well-placed right hook, took him down to the ground.

Jess straddled him as she pried the gun from his fingers. He grunted in pain, struggling between getting her off and taking back the gun. The pain in his lower body wasn't helping at all. After a few moments of this small battle between them, Jess felt her arms slowly give into Brian's more powerful muscles. Damn him and his male strength. She quickly took the gun from his hands before he could get a good grip on her wrists and chucked it a few feet aside.

For a moment, Brian ceased his movement, causing Jess to do the same. Both rested without leaving their odd, intimate-looking position. They took short, heavy breaths, feeling the chill of the night cool them down. They were both covered in a thin layer of sweat, though that little fact didn't seem to be remotely important at the moment.

After a minute or so of catching his breath, Brian finally spoke.

"That was good."

Jess smiled tiredly, still hovering above him with her hands flat on either side of his head. She only partially realized that her hips hung low above his, rubbing against him gently.

"That still doesn't mean you're safe," he grinned like the Cheshire cat. And with that, he lifted her off of him and bolted towards the gun. In her downed state, Jess managed to grab a hold of his ankle as he ran, and down he went again.

"Ha!" She mocked before getting up, jumping over him, and sprinting to the gun. She heard his footsteps pounding the asphalt from behind her, and they were getting closer.

Jess willed herself to go faster and as she felt his arms start to grab her from behind, she slid down to the ground and grasped the gun once it was in her reach.

She held it with conviction and whipped around before Brian could get his hands on her again.

His eyes lined up with the barrel of the pistol and he held his hands up in defense, a sly grin on his face.

"That's more like it," he said and she smiled back proudly.

"Why, thank you, good sir," she bowed graciously and returned the gun in his hands.

"Alright, let's pack up and get back to Glenn Boulevard, we need to do some more research on Roy. He's bound to have a busy criminal record; maybe it'll lead us to some more leads on the case." He said as they both walked back inside the yacht, finding Luna lounging comfortably on the bed as if she owned the place.

Glenn Boulevard was the location of their small apartment in a fairly quiet neighborhood, with equally suspicious residents. Brian and Jess had no doubts that several of their neighbors were involved in illegal acts, but since they didn't have concrete evidence or police badges now, there was not much to do. Besides, they weren't pulled directly into their neighbors' shenanigans...most of the time.

After they stowed away their research files, weapons, and ammunition from the night before, they led Luna into the car and drove off. The ride was mostly silent, save for Luna's soft whines from the backseat as she tried to get closer to Jess, who was driving. In the meantime, Brian sat beside her, messing around on his cell phone.

When they arrived, Jess pulled into their reserved garage. They walked up the maroon stairs up to the second floor, where light gray painted hallways intersected, leading to many apartment units. The walls echoed noises while the red carpet muffled footsteps in harmony.

They walked down the long hall lined up with numbered doors, took a left at the end, walked ahead once more and on their right was Apt 152. As he unlocked the door and opened it wide, Brian felt a sudden urge to turn around. Maybe it was the silence that just freaked him out or his nerves that just put him on edge, he wasn't quite sure. He looked behind him just to calm the voice in his head, but there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It was just him and a silent hallway. Shaking his head at himself, he entered the apartment and shut the door. He found Jess at the counter in the kitchen, looking over Armando's files.

"Hand me the laptop, will ya?" She jerked her thumb behind her and kept her attention to the pile of papers in front of her. He nodded and picked up the computer from the sofa and placed it next to her stack of files.

"What's on your mind?" He inquired. Jess was silent for a moment as she re-read some information and began to search up a name through a background check.

"Not sure." She muttered. Brian saw that she was looking up Roy in the Miami PD database.

"What, Blood Dog didn't rub you the right way?" He snickered.

She rolled her eyes and responded. "Don't tell me you didn't feel the same."

"No, I know he's hiding something too. But soon enough, we'll find out."

He pressed the 'enter' key on the laptop and the results popped onto the screen. There was silence again as their eyes scanned Blood Dog's criminal record and offenses. Among them was possession of illegal arms and drugs, robbery, and assault. He even did a few years of federal prison. But all those times, he did much less time than he deserved.

"You're the legal expert; don't these sentences look a little loose to you?" He asked beside her.

She nodded. "Either he's got a good lawyer, or he's been pulling some strings."

"A deal maker?" He studied the records.

"In exchange for business with Armando Cuevas?" She raised an eyebrow, playing along.

"Could be," he mused.

"Told you. It's all a government conspiracy. The aliens will come in 2012 and save us from the Illuminati and then, next thing you know, we'll be living on the moon and men will be giving birth to little Gremlins." Jess stood up to grab a bag of chips from the kitchenette.

"You're crazy," Brian laughed and shook his head.

"You're just jealous because I'm the Chosen One," she walked back to her seat but pulled away her snack when Brian's hand reached towards the bag. He gave her a threatening, intimidating look, but she only smirked evilly. He stuck his tongue out at her and took the laptop to do his own research.

"We'll have to get in closer with this guy, and fast." He told her.

"_Please_ don't tell me I have to blow him," she complained.

"Well, you do seem to fancy him," he laughed.

"Fancy _this_," she flipped him off. He only chuckled at her gesture.

"That's not funny," she glared at him. Brian laughed again.

"Little prick…" she muttered and walked to the couch to watch TV.

The next morning, Jess and Brian went down to Tej's to tell Rome and Tej what happened the night before.

"So, was he checkin' you out, girl?" Rome teased. Jess rolled her eyes and flipped him off.

"He would have probably jumped her if I didn't make it obvious that she was already taken," Brian chuckled and took a swig of his beer.

"So how'd it go?" Tej asked.

"Well, the whole plan would have gone to shit if I hadn't cleaned up _his_ mess," Jess narrowed her eyes at Brian as she explained what happened with the races.

"But you're good with him?" Rome asked for confirmation.

"At the moment…yeah, I guess." Jess shrugged. "We still have to be on guard. The guy's definitely sketchy. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

"So now what you should focus on is gaining his trust as fast as possible, then." Tej concluded, and everyone nodded. Silence paid tribute a similar situation in the past regarding Dominic Toretto.

After their little meeting, Jess went to hang out with Ayana and Alexis to choose her next few slut outfits for her undercover role. Brian helped Tej at the shop for a few hours and then went to work out with Rome. When he came back to the apartment, he found Jess doing more research work.

"Hey. What you got there?" He replied walking closer.

Jess gestured to her work station: the table, desk, and whiteboard in the living room.

"_Someone's_ gotta bring home the bacon in this place," she joked.

"Well, aren't _you_ a comedian." He replied sarcastically and examined her work.

The whiteboard was intricately decorated with several police records, reports, images, and court files in three separate sections pertaining to their 3 points of interest. The desk was covered with printed pages of information that had not yet found its place on the board, while the coffee table was a seat for Jess's laptop to be, ready to provide more intel if needed. She had done more background checks on their 3 main files: Trevor Simmons, East Dameons, and of course, Armando Cuevas.

"By the way, Lex wants to know if we're down for drinks tonight." Jess changed subjects.

Brian shrugged. "I wouldn't mind having some fun tonight."

"Designated driver?" She raised an eyebrow.

Brian held out his hand in front of her, setting up a rock-paper-scissors battle for the unwanted title of Designated Driver for the night.

"Only once. Got it?" He warned. Jess nodded.

"Prepare to be my taxi, bitch." She smirked.

"Ro, sham, bo!" They muttered simultaneously as they saw the results. Jess was paper. Brian was scissors.

"You were saying?" Brian chuckled.

"Douche," she muttered and walked off to her room to get ready.

It was almost 11 when they were nearly leaving. Brian was putting on his shoes and Jess was searching for the buzzing sound emitting from her black messenger bag.

"Probably Lex," she said as she fished out her phone. But when she looked at the screen, the caller ID did not confirm that. She had never seen that number before. She decided to answer, thinking that it might be one of her many relatives with whom she never really kept in contact.

"Hello?"

"My God, you've even got the _voice_ of an angel, baby." A male said on the other line. Jess scrunched her eyebrows, wanting to find whoever was calling and stab him.

"What the fuck?" She responded rudely. That was when Brian turned around, concerned and curious about her call with Lex.

"Sorry honey, this call wasn't meant for you. I want to talk to your man. The one whose ass I smoked yesterday. Ain't he around?"

Then she recognized the voice, the cocky attitude. She wanted so badly to mention that Brian wasn't the only one who lost that night, but she held her tongue and let it go.

"How'd you get my number?" She asked, trying not to sound accusing or disrespectful. Her mind wandered back to the night before and she tried to find out how Roy could have gotten her cell phone number. She seemed to be lost in thought when Brian walked over to Jess and snapped his fingers in her face to focus her back onto the present phone call. He signaled for her to put the phone on speaker. She complied and they leaned against the counter, listening to the voice on the other line.

"I got a lot of connections, sugar. It's what happens when you're a man of power. Now...where's Blondie?" She could hear Blood Dog grin through the phone. Little prick.

"One sec," she told him and motioned for Brian to speak. He gave her a calm look of reassurance in hopes of getting her to let it go, despite that he too wanted to hurt Roy at the moment. She seemed to restrain herself, relying on the suspense of the conversation to keep her on edge. She really wanted to know why Roy wanted to talk to Brian so badly.

"Yeah?" Brian began.

"Yo, Blondie! Man last night was pretty fun, right? Hope you aren't a sore loser cause I'd hate to hang with a-"

"No, no it's cool." Brian cut him off stiffly. Jess could already see that he was getting pissed.

"Anyway, what's up?" He locked away his anger. Easier said than done.

"What's up is I that I've got some jobs that need doing and a shortage of men. You said you're into that exotic work, am I right?"

Brian mulled it over. It would definitely improve his status with Blood Dog, but it could just as easily be a set-up. The Why factor is what he didn't know.

"Just let me know the details and I'll get it done." Brian responded.

"Great! So, I'll be seein' you tomorrow at Puma at 11PM. I'll bring some of my friends who might want to do business." His voice sounded smug. "And bring your lady, too." Jess's jaw dropped when she heard that last line. "You never know when a woman might be handy," Roy chuckled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Brian forced a chuckle, trying to sound lighthearted. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." He hung up and saw Jess staring angrily into space.

"I swear Brian, I'm gonna fuckin' slit his throat."

He sighed. "Look, worry about it tomorrow. Right now, let's just let loose and have some fun." He said calmly and put his hands on her shoulders to be reassuring.

"I can't even have a damn beer!" She rolled her eyes.

"Well...since we're going to Palma, why not just sleep at Lex's for the night? She lives closer to it than we do anyways."

Jess sighed. "Alright then. I'll tell Lex."

They rode to Lex's house first on Jess's black Suzuki motorcycle. Brian, being the gentleman, decided to be the driver. Jess looked at him oddly, seeing as he was never this courteous. They always had a love-hate relationship since they were kids. For him to be polite to her was just weird.

"What?" Brian looked at her innocently when he saw her looking at him suspiciously for volunteering to drive them to Lex's house. She was about to say something, but she just shook her head and put on the helmet he offered her instead. They arrived at Lex's empty 3-room house to park the motorcycle, then they walked to the club.

Palma was pretty full that night. The music was loud, the drinks kept flowing, and the dance floor was especially packed. Brian and Jess met up with Ayana, Lex and a few of her friends: Stephanie, Orlando, Victor, and Dulce, Stephanie's cousin. Jess had some pent-up animosity towards Stephanie from something that happened years ago, but because both women were Lex's best friends, Jess always opted to just stay away from her to not cause any problems. Instead, she hung out with the guys at the bar, watching Ayana, Dulce, Lex, and Stephanie lose themselves on the dance floor. Occasionally, they would invite her to dance, but Jess wasn't usually the type to let loose…at least not in Brian's presence. Plus she wasn't really into the mainstream music known as dubstep, house, and trance. Hip-hop was a maybe, depending on the lyrics and the beat. Rock was always a yes, same with Mexican rancheras or similar music.

Jess was on her third beer when the song Move Ya Body by Nina Sky came on. Ayana's eyes were glowing, inviting her friend to let loose tonight. Jess squirmed in her stool, trying to resist the music. She couldn't turn down a classic, could she? Especially with the rhythm of the percussion in the background that had Latin roots built right into it. She really just wanted to find a spot among friends and the darkness and just dance her ass off. But she didn't want any of the other guys to see, otherwise she'd never hear the end of it. No, she was _not_ going to dance. She was just going to relax and sit, maybe she'd even play pool later on if she wasn't too stupid to start betting. Yeah, she could handle herself. She breathed calmly.

But the alcohol in her system felt the contrary. It was so hard to resist orders that seemed to originate from her very brain. Her body commanded itself to ignore the lingering ghost of a conscience that she had. Before she knew it, Jess found herself swaying from side to side with the rhythm of the music. She stopped and looked shyly to the ground, hoping that no one would notice that she was dancing in her seat. Ayana called out to her with a smile on her face, but Jess shook her head and gulped down more beer, wishing that more alcohol would persuade her to stay put. Silly Jess, that's not how liquor works.

"Come on, Jess! You know you want to!" Ayana said in a sing-song voice as she danced in sync with the music.

"Nooooo!" Jess whined like a child.

"Come on, nobody's looking!" Ayana was discreetly stepping further away from the crowd and towards her stubborn friend. Jess actually turned around, surveying the people around her to look for Brian, Victor, and Orlando. They were nowhere in sight. She bit her lip. Should she risk it? Ayana caught her looking around, knowing she had her friend hooked on the possibility that tonight she could just dance at least one song without being afraid to hold back.

"Song's gonna end soon!" She held out her hand for Jess to take reluctantly.

She was led to a group of people dancing together, who she soon realized were Lex, Dulce, and Stephanie. Jess clenched her teeth at the sight of Stephanie, but at least she wasn't clenching her fist, and no one had seen her reaction anyway. Before she could do anything else, Ayana pulled her away from Stephanie and closer to Lex, whom she was less inclined to hit. The three danced back-to-back to the rhythm of the song as they formed a triangle. Jess moved freely as the music guided her. Her shoulders rolled, her arms flowed gracefully, her hips swayed from side to side, and her long legs moved as the percussion commanded. Thank God none of the guys had seen her. She would have died of embarrassment.

Jess couldn't really see past a few feet because the club was so dark. Only when the lights flashed in bright neon colors at different speeds could she see some heads bouncing up and down across the room. This made her feel calmer; she was among strangers, who wouldn't bother to pester her about anything. Tonight, she wasn't going to give a damn either way.

Hours passed by like minutes until the club had to close. The guys regrouped with the girls at the back parking lot, then they called for cab rides to their respective homes. Orlando and Stephanie opted to sleep over at Lex's instead, much to Jess's disappointment, but she shook it off as she occupied herself with trying to walk a straight line. Somehow, in the short walk inside Lex's house, Jess found herself supported by Brian. His arm was around her shoulder as they walked side by side and the two plopped down heavily on the couch. Jess's vision was a little blurred and she could feel the booze buzz mess with her senses, so she lay back comfortably and closed her eyes. Brian did the same. Lex, Orlando, and Stephanie shared drunken chats in the kitchen a few feet away.


	8. Business and Vodka

Hi guys! Sorry this chapter's a few days late, but school came up :/

Anyways, this is my first time writing a song based chapter (I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace), I recommend you listen to the song while reading the part of the chapter that references it, especially since I broke it up to fit the tempo of the song. Let me know what you think!

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The next morning consisted of a bitch of a headache for Lex, Orlando, Stephanie, Jess, and Brian. The two ex-cops passed out on the couch in the living room, Brian draped over Jess's lap like a blanket. Jess blinked her eyes open slowly, regretting it immediately as bright sunlight shone through the window and burned her pupils. She groaned in pain and stretched her body, only to realize that there was a dead weight on her lower body. She looked down and saw Brian's sleeping form stirring slightly as he lay over her lap.

She sighed, torn between pushing him off the couch or letting him sleep. She decided to be sympathetic towards him and lay back, trying to fall asleep, but was unsuccessful. Luckily, Brian began to move around as he slowly woke. He groaned sleepily and looked up at Jess. He gave her a confused look, wondering how the hell he ended up on her lap.

"Shit," he muttered, raising his hand to his head as a wave of hangover pain attacked him.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," she closed her eyes and laid her head back. Brian groaned in pain.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Probably close to 12. I bet the others are still passed out." Jess answered.

"What happened last night? I feel like shit," Brian laid his head against the armrest on the couch. He hadn't been this hungover in a long time.

"Maybe that's just your conscience," Jess chuckled when he replied with a 'Fuck you'.

"Why don't you make that Mexican soup that cures hangovers?" He covered his eyes with his arm to shield them from the late morning light.

"What? You mean menudo?"

"Yeah, that stuff. Please?" He sounded like a child. Jess let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm tired, dude."

"Let's just go to a cantina and order some," she suggested when he whined.

"Who's driving?" He asked, not wanting to even get up from the comfy sofa and, dare he say it, Jess's lap.

"We gotta take the bike," Jess yawned. Brian groaned in response, not liking the idea.

"Fine, let's walk then," she said. Her tired partner sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

They managed to walk in a straight line, albeit with heavy heads, to a nearby cantina. It wasn't too full, and the patrons who were there were having lunch like most normal people would be doing. Meanwhile, Jess and Brian were there to cure their hangover with some good menudo.

As they happily ate their hangover-curing soup, the two talked about their friends, cars...anything but their inevitable meeting with Roy later that night. They finished eating and sat in thoughtful silence as Jess looked out the window from where they sat. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the people on the beach just across the street. Her head was feeling slightly better already, and her thought process was much more clear. Brian crossed his arms like Jess and also looked outside. The silence was comfortable, but he knew it couldn't last. They had things to do, criminals to put behind bars, etc. He cleared his throat, earning a simple glance from Jess.

"So, uh, what's the plan for tonight?" He asked. He could see her shoulders tense just the slightest bit. She blinked slowly and turned back to the window.

"Make friends with the enemy," she said. He nodded, knowing the answer already, but wanting to hear the confirmation from his partner.

"Just remember, I want you to stay by my side at all times," he warned.

"Hm, touching," she said sarcastically. Brian rolled his eyes. She knew he had a point, though. As much as she despised being treated like a helpless child, Roy and his thugs had power and numbers over Jess. It was much better to have Brian around than to be completely alone.

"So what job do you think he's got for us?" She asked, finally facing him. Brian shrugged.

"Beats me. But we've got to start making a strategy so we have something to stick to." Jess nodded in agreement.

And so, they began to make up a rules of engagement protocol to go by. Jess was to be by Brian's side at all times, unless she started to raise suspicion. It was agreed that Jess would be allowed to carry weapons if they were very well concealed, a feat that could prove to be difficult given Jess's skimpy attire that was required for her undercover role. Jess was also to fish information from the girls around Roy whenever possible. If she felt her life was threatened by Roy or his friends, she had full clearance to defend herself by any means necessary. Brian preferred her to not take their lives, if that was possible, just so they wouldn't have blood on their hands and an angry gang on their backs if business went sour.

Hangover-free, for the most part, they walked back to Lex's to retrieve the motorcycle from the garage. Seeing as how Lex and Stephanie were in one of their bitchy hangover moods, Brian and Jess decided to cut their goodbyes short and went home.

Luna greeted them excitedly as they entered, joining them when they plopped down on the couch. "I'm so tired," Jess whined. Brian sighed in agreement. While he allowed the couch to seduce him into sleep, Jess went to take a shower in hopes that it would wake her up. When she was finished, she went to her room, planning on taking a nap.

Walking through the open door, she found Brian sprawled comfortably all over her bed. His feet were where the head should be and vice-versa. Luna was lying just as comfortably on the pillows, where she knew she was not allowed to be on. Of course, with Brian around, the dog knew she could get away with it.

"Dude," Jess whined, her dream of having the bed all to herself now crushed. He stirred ever so slightly, but otherwise lay still. She walked over to him, noticing that he had changed from last night's clothes to a white T-shirt and a fresh pair of jeans.

"Move," she commanded and pushed him, but he didn't obey. "Brian," she sounded like a child. She groaned and gave up. Then an idea came to her mind. She let herself fall heavily onto Brian's body, smiling to herself when he grunted and threw her a 'Fuck you' as he moved over. He didn't get off the bed, but as long as Jess could still have some room, she was moderately happy.

"Go to your room," Jess told Brian. He stayed silent, not acknowledging her commands one bit. She sighed. She was so tired, and she didn't feel like fighting him at the moment. "Fuck it," she said, and gave up the battle. Brian smirked and turned to her.

"Shut up, you bitch," she said and narrowed her eyes at him. He chuckled at her threat and made himself comfortable. Jess shook her head and did the same. After a few minutes of calm and soft silence, Jess spoke.

"Are you really going to sleep here or are you just being annoying cause I'm gonna take a nap." Brian nodded.

"Yes what?" Jess sighed.

"Yes, I'm going to sleep here," he replied.

"Fine, douche," Jess sighed again and oriented herself to sleep the normal way: with her head on the pillow side and her feet on the opposite side. Brian followed suit and Luna managed to occupy some room beside him.

What happened next was just plain weird, but Jess couldn't deny that it made her face blush a tomato red color. Luckily, Brian hadn't seen it.

He had snuggled up behind her and draped his arm over her waist, laying his head just above hers.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She asked threateningly.

"Sleeping. Shut up." He replied, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow. Jess sighed and gave up. He was being so calm about it, as if this was an everyday thing. That passive behavior translated into Jess as well. He wasn't groping her body or being disrespectful, so she decided to spare his life. Plus, she felt pretty comfortable encircled by his warm body. Not that she'd ever tell him, of course.

Hours later, Luna was awakened by a buzzing phone on Jess's nightstand. The dog began to jump in excitement, soon waking Brian. He clumsily reached for his phone and checked the caller ID. It was Roy.

"Hello?" He said, wishing he could go back to sleep.

"Brian, my man! You sound a little faded, you busy?" Roy boomed in his ear. Brian winced and made a mental note to punch him very hard when he was taken into custody.

"Nah, what's up?" He answered as Jess stirred and turned towards him.

"Just wanted to remind you about tonight, and to make sure you don't bring any heat to the club, you catch me?"

"Yeah, uh-huh," he replied, wanting to end the call ASAP. Jess gave him a look of confusion as to who he was talking to. He showed her the phone, which listed Roy as the caller. He couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

"Alright man, I'll let you get back to your shit, see you tonight," Roy chuckled and hung up. Brian reached over Jess to put his phone back on the nightstand.

"What a dick," Jess muttered. Brian chuckled in agreement and wrapped his arms around her again, lulling them both to sleep.

When Brian awoke a few hours later, he checked the clock on the nightstand, noticing it was almost 4PM. His eyes traveled back to Jess, still in disbelief that they had slept together. No, nothing else happened between them, but even cuddling was a huge step from where they stood in their friendship just the day before. Whether it was a step forward or backward, Brian didn't know.

A small, odd feature on her neck caught his attention. He pushed a few strands of her hair out of the way and gently poked and prodded at it, hoping she wouldn't wake. It was a tiny hole in her skin, as if a needle had pricked her neck.

"...the fuck?" Brian whispered to himself and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Stop poking me, dipshit. It hurts." Jess muttered and tried to go back to sleep. Her sudden threat startled him, then he brought his attention back to the unfriendly hole in her neck.

"Jess, what happened to your neck?" He asked. Jess turned to face him, looking confused.

"What do you mean?" Her brows furrowed. Brian got up from the bed and began walking to the bathroom, motioning her to follow. He stopped in front of the mirror and slightly turned her so she could see the reflection of the needle-sized puncture in her neck.

"What the fuck?" She scrunched her eyebrows and poked at it, wincing at the pressure she put on it as a dull soreness attacked her neck. Brian removed her hand from her neck and replaced it with his own.

"Does this hurt?" He asked as he gently poked it.

"Yeah," she winced as the pain returned again. "What the hell is it?" she asked.

"I don't know...it looks like a hole. Like a needle stabbed you."

"Well I don't remember a needle stabbing me recently," she said as she stared at the startling puncture in her neck. Brian sighed, wondering since when that has been on her neck, and what it could possibly be doing there.

"Let's not worry about it too much. We have a few hours till midnight, might as well get our heads together and get ready," he suggested.

"Ok," she sighed and turned to leave the bathroom before Brian caught her arm. She looked at him, the worry in her face beginning to scare him.

He gave her the best reassuring look he could muster before she walked away into her room. Brian closed the door and turned to the toilet, but not before catching a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks, but he thought he saw something different. He stepped closer, turning his head to check his neck. Sure enough, there was a small puncture on the left side, just near his hairline. Just like Jess's neck.

When he poked it, the pain of a bruise followed, also like Jess's puncture. He shook his head in frightened disbelief, turned to the toilet, and did his business. He decided not to tell Jess about his discovery…at least not yet. She seemed too scared at the moment and they both needed to be focused if they wanted to get into Armando's social circle.

Hours later, Brian and Jess were getting ready for their outing with Roy. Brian waited for Jess to finish on the couch, flipping channels on the TV and shaking his head at her excessive use of prepping time. _Women_.

"Hurry up, Jess!" He yelled while Luna hopped on the couch beside him and nudged his hand, asking him to pet her. He chuckled and gave her the attention she asked for.

"I'm done already; calm down, you blond whore," she said loudly and entered the living room.

"Good, then. Let's leave." He stood up and straightened the buttons on his casual black shirt, fixing the waistline of his jeans, and turned around to face Jess. His jaw dropped for a few seconds. She scrunched her eyebrows. "What?" She asked in confusion.

She wore a short black dress with heels, her curly hair flowing around her shoulders and a few black studded bracelets decorated her wrists. She reached for a strap on the counter and wrapped it around her right leg. She grabbed a small knife from the counter and sheathed it into the strap. She pulled her dress over it, concealing it quite well. She even smiled at her success, like a giddy schoolgirl.

Lastly she retrieved a necklace from her room and put it on: it was a golden key, normal looking from a few feet away. But hidden inside the key was a small blade about 2 inches long. "Is this outfit approved for weaponry?" She asked him with a smile on her face.

Brian swallowed down the drool that had built up in his mouth from staring. "Uh…yeah," he answered quietly. "Ready to go?"

Jess nodded. "Let's make frenemies!"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Never say that word again."

She smirked devilishly. Another way to annoy Brian? Best thing ever. "I'll keep that in mind." He knew that meant she was going to use it excessively in the next few days.

They entered Jess's black Nissan and drove to Puma.

The place wasn't full, but it wasn't empty. Jess could smell the cigarette smoke from the bouncers a parking lot away. They let them know that they were guests of Roy's and were directed to his booth, secluded in the corner and covered by a screen to divert strangers.

The dark red light above the booths and the already red seat made everything look fuzzy; Jess wondered if it was just her or if she had somehow started drinking before leaving for Puma. Brian had a similar reaction. He absentmindedly raised his hand and lightly pressed on the puncture in his neck, not surprised when he felt pain instead of comfort. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be dating Jess, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, playing the alpha male, as they approached Roy. Jess followed in step with him, never noticing that he had been touching the puncture she didn't know about.

"Brian!" Roy stood up vigorously, holding a beer in his hand. They shook hands as Roy looked over to Jess, pleased.

"And you brought the goods!" He smiled from ear to ear, gesturing towards her.

_Don't kill him yet. Don't kill him yet. Don't kill him yet,_ she repeated in her head as a mantra to keep herself composed.

"Uh, babe, why don't you go hang out with the...ladies," Brian pointed over to a group of girls who seemed to be part of Roy's party.

"The big boys here are gonna talk business," Roy added. Jess nodded and leaned into Brian when he gave her a small peck on the cheek.

"Don't take too long, or I'll miss you," she said, attempting to be seductive as she walked away from their booth. As soon as she turned away from them, her façade broke. Her natural scowl returned to her face as she made the transition into the womens' booth she was directed towards. She plastered on her fake smile when she saw some familiar faces.

"Hey! You're with Blondie, right?" A redhead with abnormally large breasts smiled at her. She was the woman Jess had talked to the night before, when she and Brian were first searching for Roy. She was always pushing up her damn boobs, as if they weren't already noticeable.

"Yeah. Uh, I'm Jess," she smiled politely.

"Sasha," she replied. "Come on, meet the rest of the girls!" She dragged Jess by the wrist and introduced her to the other 3 girls drinking at the booth. All of them shamelessly displayed their legs and cleavage to the public, making Jess want to puke right then and there.

"Hey, this is Jess. She's here with Blondie," Sasha grabbed the girls' attention. _It's Brian,_ Jess had the urge to say; somehow, them knowing his name was an uncomfortable thought to her, so she let it slide. She waved awkwardly at them as Sasha pointed to each of them and listed their names.

"This is Kim, Rose, and Carmen," she motioned to a bleach blonde with a big chest, a tall black haired woman with long legs, and a short, curvy woman with a large ass. Typical stripper names, Jess noted. Rose and Carmen gave her passive nods, looking at their drinks or manicures while Kim welcomed her with a small smile. Sasha invited her to sit.

"So you're the chick who beat Blood Dog yesterday?" Rose asked in a monotone voice, crossing her arms and legs and looking at Jess carefully.

"Yeah, I am," she asserted, crossing her own legs and leaning back in her seat to show she didn't feel threatened by Rose's attempt at intimidation.

"You know a lot of people were watching that night," Sasha said.

"Yeah, no girl's ever beat him," Kim added wide-eyed. She looked like she was beginning to idolize Jess, who felt a little nervous by this hint of fanaticism.

"How did you learn to race like that?"

_Oh, shit_. How was she going to answer this genuinely without raising suspicion?

"Try working as a taxi driver. In New York. You learn a few things." Jess put on a serious face and punctuated her response to make it seem like it was a real experience. Sasha and Kim seemed to buy it.

"So you girls, uh hang out with Blood Dog often?" Jess changed subjects, trying to start a flowing conversation.

"Eh, he mostly just drags us around all the time. Or calls us up late at night when he's lonely," Carmen said and rolled her eyes. _Wow, she talks_, Jess noted with sarcasm.

"Ah, gotcha."

"What about you? I don't see anyone around Blondie besides you. What, are you his personal favorite, or does he only take you out on special occasions?" Rose narrowed her eyes at Jess.

"Rose!" Kim slapped her arm and chastised her.

"Why so curious? Don't get enough love from Blood Dog?" Jess said with bitterness in her voice to match Rose's. They glared at each other for a few seconds before Rose stood up.

"I'm going to go do something productive, unlike the rest of you."

_Says the girl who makes her living as a stripper_, thought Jess. The girls watched as Rose retreated from their sight to a darker area of the club, then Sasha turned back to Jess.

"I'm sorry about her, I don't know what's up with her."

"Don't worry about it."

"She's just so hardheaded," Kim added.

"She's jealous," Carmen said. _Wow, so she isn't as much of a bitch as I thought. At least, she's not as bad as Rose_.

"Jealous of what? I just met her." Jess scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, absentmindedly itching to reach for her knife, just to reassure herself that it was still there in case it was needed.

"Hey, how many girls does your guy have?" Kim interrupted.

"Who?" _My guy?_

"Blondie," she added.

"Uh...just me," Jess answered. All three girls had wide eyes. They seemed to never have heard of monogamy.

"Wow. You must be really good," Kim said in awe.

"How long have you been with him?" Sasha queried and leaned closer with interest.

"Almost a year." They would never believe her if she told them she knew him practically since birth.

They gawked at her answer. "You must be really, really good!" Kim exclaimed. Jess wanted to roll her eyes.

"What do you do for him?" Carmen asked. What does she do for him? How exactly was she supposed to answer that question?

"You know...the usual, I guess. Most of the time I just keep him company. He keeps to himself a lot." That last bit was true about Brian, at least she wasn't completely lying. The girls nodded, acknowledging her answer.

"At the race...you seemed to know business when you were challenging Roy. Don't tell me you got that from New York too," Carmen remarked.

"No," Jess chuckled. "My uncle owned a bar here in Florida and he hired me as a bartender so I learned how to cut deals whenever we were short on supplies."

"New York? Florida? Sounds like you get around. Does Blondie take you all over the place?" Sasha asked.

"Pretty much. I help him out as an assistant sometimes, so he keeps me around." Jess really wished they'd stop asking her questions because she didn't want to risk forgetting any lies she'd just told.

"So when Blood Dog's doing business, what do you girls do?" She asked them.

All three girls rolled their eyes as if on cue. "Exactly what we're doing now," Carmen said bitterly as she looked around the club at all the other women having a good time. "We just sit around while he has his 'meetings' or whatever. _Sometimes_ he takes us to the races, most times we have to get our own ride, it depends which one of us he wants by his side." Sasha added.

Jess's eyes widened, but not by much so they wouldn't notice. These women are objects to Roy. He pays all four to keep him company so the bastard doesn't feel lonely. Meanwhile, the girls are ok with being summoned as personal strippers and being judged by their looks and skill in bed. It made Jess sick, and she had a strong urge to stab him all over his body.

She mentally shook her head and focused on her goal in this operation: find info on Roy and Armando. If she could be on good terms with Sasha, Carmen, and Kim, and if Rose would just butt out, then maybe she can get some useful intel. She just hoped that Brian was also trying to play nice even though the only thing he wanted to do was shoot Roy.

After a few hours of relatively unimportant chatter with the girls, a large man, Jess presumed a bodyguard, approached them and looked at her.

"Your boy's askin' for you." Jess nodded, said goodbye to her new friends, and followed him to the booth where Brian and Roy sat, accompanied by some other men Jess didn't know.

"Have a seat, gorgeous," Roy smirked at her. She smiled weakly and sat beside Brian, thankful that the arm around her waist belonged to him rather than Roy.

"We were just discussing a job that your little boyfriend over here was confident you could do," he gestured to Brian. Jess looked briefly at him, trying to measure his reaction to see how exaggerated his 'confidence' was. She turned to Roy.

"Oh?"

"I'm not sure, though. You seem like the kind of girl who would cry over a broken nail," he smirked over the top of his vodka glass. She resisted rolling her eyes.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Blondie will give you the details later. Basically, I need your pretty little ass to distract some guards for a bit so the big boys," he gestured to everyone else sitting at the booth, including Brian, "can go to work. Think you can handle that?"

"How much time do you need?"

"Milk it. As much time as you can give us. Blondie said you're decent with guns, maybe you can help out as the cleanup crew after."

Decent? She looked over at Brian, both knowing that he was going to pay for undermining her marksmanship. She looked back at Roy, her face displaying confidence. "You got it. When do I start?"

He smirked and laughed. "Look at this girl! She's down for whatever! Ey, man, where'd you find this girl anyway?" Roy joked to Brian, the rest of the men laughing as well.

"Even if I told you, it wouldn't matter. She's one of a kind." He replied and drank from his beer. Jess turned to him and raised her eyebrow. She gave him an ambiguous smirk, wiped the top of his beer, and downed the rest of it, which was not much. Roy burst out in laughter.

"Damn, girl! You better give him some head tonight, the man just gave you a compliment!" The other men nodded and looked at her maliciously.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Brian joked, trying to keep up the positivity of the conversation. Jess smiled as well, but Brian could feel her body tense up.

"Ah. Anyways, Blondie, I'll be checkin' in on you so you know the plan. All you gotta do," Roy turned to Jess, "Is keep lookin' sexy," he smirked.

She smiled as expected, baring her teeth to make it more realistic. Brian knew that smile was one step away from turning into a vicious growl, so he gently ushered her out of the booth. "Goodnight, boys," he waved to the men and Jess followed suit. Brian pulled her away when Roy threw her a wink and he felt her arms tense up as she formed tight fists in her hands.

They exited the club, Jess taking the wheel since she drank less alcohol than Brian. The ride back was silent and awkward, and when they got home, Luna was the only one making noise. Brian was about to plop down on the couch when Jess's high heels kicked the back of his knee, causing him to groan and curse at her. She kneed his back and sent him to the ground and held him in a full Nelson as she angrily yelled at him.

"Decent?! I'm _decent_?! With a gun?"

"Aw, come on Jess. You know I didn't mean that," he groaned. Sometimes she could get so sensitive.

"I'm sorry, would you like a blowjob as an apology?" She hissed sarcastically. Brian made the mistake of hesitating to answer. He couldn't resist simply _thinking_ about it.

"You're such a douche, you..." She stopped when she noticed a puncture on his neck. It looked just like hers, and in the exact same place as hers. She released her Nelson grip and poked it.

"Ow!" He winced when his eyes grew wide, realizing what just happened. He hoped and prayed that she wouldn't think that he knew about it.

"Brian. You have one just like mine," Jess's voice grew soft and afraid.

"What? No I don't." He countered and struggled underneath her. She froze, observing him carefully.

"Did you know about this?"

"No! What are you talking about!?" He answered frantically. She placed two fingers on his neck, feeling for his jugular vein.

"Are you lying to me?"

"What? No, why would I lie?" He stuttered.

"That's funny, because your jugular vein is throbbing," she whispered threateningly.

"Maybe it's because you fucking kicked the back of my knee with your fucking stiletto heels!" He pushed himself off the ground and rolled Jess off of him. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards her.

"Or maybe it's because you're fucking lying! How long have you known?" She was furious, her cheeks growing red hot. To be honest, Brian was a little scared. As much as she seemed to hate him, it was rare for her to get this pissed at him.

"Since today. I swear, Jess," he looked into her eyes, trying to soften her up.

"Why didn't you fucking tell me?" She spat back, his plan obviously wasn't working. All he could do was be calm and hope that energy would transfer into her.

"You should've seen the look on your face, you were fuckin' terrified, Jess. If I told you, you probably wouldn't have even closed your eyes, much less have gone to sleep."

Miraculously, she shut her mouth. She sighed angrily and pushed him away. He was right, and they both knew it. But Jess wasn't about to admit that. She'd rather die first.

She walked into the shower, not even bothering to tell him, a sign that meant he was probably going to get the silent treatment. And, boy, could Jess hold a grudge. He went to his own room and laid out clothes for him to change into after he showered. In the meantime, he sat at the kitchen counter and wrote down some notes about the information he gained from his meeting with Roy and the other men, his 'business partners', as he called them.

Jess took her sweet time in the shower, no doubt to annoy Brian. When she finished, she walked straight into her room, not even sparing him a glance, while Luna trotted behind her. Brian couldn't say the same about himself, he found his eyes glued to her wet body wrapped in a thin white towel, at least for a few seconds. He took in a few sharp breaths before finishing a last thought and showering himself.

When he finished, he was about to walk to his room when he heard music blaring from Jess's room. He put his ear to her door, recognizing the song.

**Every time we lie awake, after every hit we take. Every feeling that I get, but I haven't missed you yet.**

It was "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace. There was no doubt in Brian's mind that the song was directed right at him, because it was playing on full blast, loud enough to be heard from the living room, the kitchen, and probably the bathroom.

**Every roommate kept awake by every sigh and scream we make. All the feelings that I get, but I still don't miss you yet.**

Brian struggled, contemplating whether he should apologize, and how. The anger in her eyes was a fury that he hasn't seen since...Mia. He shook his head, trying to forget the past.

**Only when I stop to think about it.**

He opened the door to her room, fully knowing that he was digging his own grave.

Jess turned to him, glaring as he silently walked up to her. He knew what she was going to do, there was a certain fear in his eyes. But he also knew this had to happen if they were to work as a team.

She landed a right hook to his face, making him bend over in pain.

**I...hate everything about you!**

She kneed his forehead, bringing him to his knees.

**Why do I love you?**

She kicked him in the gut and he doubled over, his head on the ground.

**I...hate everything about you! Why do I love you?**

She stopped, deciding that he needed a few seconds to breathe. She turned her back to him, walking a few feet away when her frustrated partner growled. A twinge in the back of her knee bit at her and she felt his body tackle her. _Payback_.

They both lay on the ground, recovering from the pain. Brian tenderly touched his face, feeling a few bruises take root and his head formed a nagging ache. Jess took a few moments to catch her breath and wait for the momentary pain in her back to disperse.

**Every time we lie awake, after every hit we take. Every feeling that I get, but I haven't missed you yet.**

Jess rolled over, groaning as her back complained, but she managed to get herself on one knee.

**Only when I stop to think about it.**

She looked at Brian, who buried his face in his elbow. He lifted his head to see her piercing eyes, he knew she was just getting warmed up, and if she wasn't pissed before he had tackled her, she definitely was now.

**I...hate everything about you! Why do I love you? I...hate everything about you! Why do I love you?**

She forced herself to stand first, which emasculated him a bit. She brought her hands up in a fighting stance, ignoring the dull pain in her back as she grew impatient for him to get up.

**Only when I stop to think about you, I know. Only when you stop to think about me, do you know.**

He took his time, Jess suspected he might even be delaying, for whatever reason. But he did get up, and faced her with loose but positioned hands.

**I...hate everything about you! Why do I love you?**

She feigned a right cross, which he moved to deflect, leaving an opening that she took advantage of. She kicked his side and connected an uppercut to his face. While still painful, he noticed that the hit was regressed; she was holding back.

**You...hate everything about me! Why do you love me?**

All the while, Brian took her hits, never hitting, only deflecting. He accepted being her punching bag if it meant they could reconcile. Although most girls wouldn't make up with their friends in such a violent manner, it was clear to Brian now more than ever that Jess was not like most girls.

**...I...hate**

**...You...hate**

**...I...hate**

**You love me!**

She gave him a good uppercut to his rib cage, and another blow to the gut, making him bend over once more. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, she brought her knee up to his stomach, causing him to groan loudly in pain. She hesitated for a second; this was the first time he had vocalized his pain during their 'reconciliation'.

**I...hate everything about you! Why do I love you?**

She kicked him to the ground for good measure and straddled him, resting her hands on either side of his head. She was panting and sweaty, though not as much as Brian. She didn't understand why he would let her beat him, but she appreciated the effort anyway, because she wasn't so good with words when it came to verbal communication. Brian groaned as the song ended; it all seemed so quick. Maybe it was just the fact that his best friend had beat him up. His head was still spinning and his stomach felt like it was flipped upside down and used as a punching pillow, which was partially true. Jess sighed, her heartbeat slowing down to its normal pace.

"For 24 years, I've dealt with your shit. We've made fun of each other, called each other names..." She began in a soft voice that turned into a whisper as she breathed.

"I'm okay with fighting and arguing, as long as we fix things and call it a day. But you know that the thing I value most is trust. Lying to me will get you nowhere." She finished, not realizing that she hung her head so low that it was practically resting on his chest. She was too emotionally and physically tired to care.

He wrapped his arms around her, sensing the stress emitting from her. The last time she had ever broken down like this was when she found out her father was cheating on her mother, though that time she was bawling in his arms. Now she was just exhausted; the day had brought much to think about. Jess sighed and got off of him. He groaned as the pain in his torso reignited. She stretched her hand to him and helped him up.

"Uh...I'm not sure if this is too soon," Brian started, knowing that usually after a fight, Jess takes a few weeks to return to her regular self. "But...wanna compare notes?" He gave her a shy look, unsure if she'd be willing to talk about the case right now. A hesitant look crossed her face before she stiffly nodded and walked to the kitchen, where Brian followed.


End file.
